


Prophecy of the Sisters Part I - What the Rose Is

by OnlyHisPrincess



Series: Prophecy of the Sisters [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angst, Case Fic, Dirty Talk, Eventual Smut, Explicit Language, F/M, Fluff, Orgasm Delay/Denial, Smut, Spanking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-16
Updated: 2016-01-13
Packaged: 2018-04-21 03:35:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 52
Words: 187,938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4813430
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OnlyHisPrincess/pseuds/OnlyHisPrincess
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Three sisters, a prophecy and the Winchester brothers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my first fanfic. It's been rolling around in my head for awhile...so I'm giving it a go!

Hastings, Nebraska  
November 3, 1983

If you asked Rose Sullivan when she lost her heart she could pin point it to the exact moment. November 3, 1983. It was late, after midnight and the pounding on the door woke Rose and her big sister, Lily up. Her dad was home, for once, and he went with her mom to answer the door.

“John! What are you….where’s Mary?” Whoever it was at the door it wasn’t someone her mom was expecting to see.

Rose came out into the hallway with Lily, curious to see who was at their house this late. There was a big man there, holding a baby. He looked scared, upset and lost, like everything he knew about the world had just been turned on it’s head.

“She’s..oh God. I don’t know how to …She’s gone.” the man stopped, started crying and her mom took the baby from his arms while her dad put a hand on the man’s shoulder. That’s when Rose noticed the little boy by the man’s side. He looked about her age, with light brown hair and big green eyes. He looked so sad. Rose didn’t even think, she just went down, slipped past her parents and slipped her hand into his. The boy was startled and his eyes flew to Rose’s . She could see he was crying.

“Lily, come take the baby, please” their mom called. Lily came down and took the baby from her mom, cuddled him to her and headed back up the stairs with him.

“You kids go on upstairs to your room.” Rose’s dad said. “Come on John, let’s go into the kitchen, get some coffee. We’ll talk.”

The little boy hesitated. Rose could feel it in his hand. He didn’t know if he should leave his father. He looked up at his dad, questioning.

His dad put a hand down on his shoulder and nodded his head. “You go on, Dean, with the girls. Keep an eye on, Sammy ok?”

Dean nodded and turned back to look at Rose.  She squeezed his hand and gave him a little smile.  Despite his tears he gave her a sad little smile in return.   And that was the moment.  From then on Dean Winchester owned her heart.


	2. That's the Kind of Girl I Am

Rose managed to balance her purse and the grocery bags and get the front door unlocked without breaking anything.  She headed back towards the kitchen, already planning what to cook for tonight’s dinner.  Was Daisy still eating only chicken?  She couldn’t remember…maybe that was last month.  She had halfway decided on a pasta dish when she made it into the kitchen to find Lily, seated at the counter, thumbing through a magazine.

“Hey Lil, got the groceries.  I was thinking of making some pasta for dinner tonight.  With olive oil and garlic maybe?”  Rose plopped the bags down on the counter and started unpacking them.

Lily nodded absentmindedly.  “Sounds good.”

As Rose put the groceries away she studied her older sister.  Appearance wise a person wouldn’t guess they were related.  Lily was long and lean, with short dark hair and big brown eyes.  She looked tough, a person who could handle any situation, definitely someone you would want on your side in a fight.  Rose on the other hand looked like someone you would want to make you dinner, maybe share a secret with.  She was shorter and curvier and had red wavy hair that fell to her waist and big blue eyes that made her look younger than her age.  Where Lily looked tough, Rose looked soft. 

“What going on?  Where is everyone anyway?”  At the Sullivan household there usually were at least a few people wandering around.  Daisy at least should be here chattering away.  It wasn’t normal for it to be so quiet.

“They’re in the basement. “ Lily’s answer was short and to the point, giving no other details away. 

“Oh ya, who all’s here?  Do I need to make extra?”  Rose finished putting the groceries away, washed her hands and started gathering supplies for tonight’s dinner.

“So far it’s just Mom, Mark and David.  But others will be coming.”  Finally Lily looked up from her magazine and met Rose’s eyes.  “Daisy had a dream last night.”

Rose stopped what she was doing and simply stared at Lily.  Finally she squeaked out “A dream?” 

It occurred to her how insane this whole conversation would sound to someone listening in.  A dream wasn’t a big deal.  People had them all the time.  Except in this house.  In this house if someone was dreaming it was supposed to be Rose doing the dreaming.

“Ya, she told us this morning at breakfast.  She’s pretty freaked out.”  Lily chewed her lip thoughtfully, her concern evident on her face.  Daisy was the baby and they were all pretty protective of her.

Rose nodded.  She could understand that.  In fact she could empathize as she was feeling pretty freaked out herself.  Lily was watching her now.  “When was the last time you had a dream, Rosie?’

Rosie gave a nervous laugh.  “It’s been a few months.  I just thought maybe things were slow for awhile…”  She trailed off.  More like she’d hoped things were slow.  The alternative was not something she had wanted to think about.  God, and what did that say about her?  “Geez, I leave early one morning and all hell breaks loose.”

Lily nodded her head thoughtfully.  “Well Mom’s called Bobby and he’s headed this way.  The boys are coming as well.”

Rose’s head shot up.  “What?  Why?  I mean Bobby, ya.  I understand.  But why bring Sam and Dean into it?”

Lily shrugged.   “I think she really wants another take on the prophecy.  Maybe some fresh eyes on it?  And since the boys have never read it…..” Lily trailed off, not needing to finish that sentence.  She looked at her little sister sadly then got up and came over and grabbed her into a hug.  “I’m sorry, Rosie.  I know this isn’t what you wanted.”

Rosie hugged her back gratefully.  “No, no it definitely isn’t.”  She closed her eyes, tried to soak up all the comfort she could take from the hug and prayed she would wake up to find this had all been a bad dream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter the Winchesters finally make an appearance.


	3. Light Us Up and Then Throw Us Down

“What do you mean there’s a freaking prophecy?” Dean growled, gunning the Impala’s engine roughly. 

Sam glanced nervously at Bobby in the backseat.  They  had all been wrapping up a job in Cedar Rapids when Bobby had gotten the call from Erin Sullivan.  There was history there and when she said she needed some help they all piled into the Impala and headed her way, no questions asked.  But now Bobby was filling them in and it was safe to say Dean wasn’t taking it well.

Bobby returned Sam’s glance and dove in.  “Erin doesn’t like to talk about it.  Makes her nervous.”

Dean glanced back at Bobby looking incredulous.  “She doesn’t like to talk about it?  Are you fucking kidding me?  This prophecy is about her daughters, but it makes her nervous so she just, what, pretends it doesn’t exist?  Since when is that an option?”  Another gun to the Impala’s engine. 

“It’s not a matter of pretending it doesn’t exist, Dean.  Just something Erin didn’t want to be basic public knowledge.  I mean, the prophecy is out there, anyone could have done some digging and found it.” Bobby shot Sam an inquisitive look that made Sam squirm and Dean quickly glanced his way.  “But they would have had to put together all the pieces to figure out it was this family…”

“You knew?” Dean barked at Sam.

Again Sam squirmed.  “I didn’t know…so much.  I just came across a prophecy one day when we were researching that case up in Appleton.  You know, the one with the two sisters who thought they were cursed?”  Dean shivered slightly then nodded.  That had not been a fun case.  Two sisters who were convinced they had a curse put on them by “some voodooey witch doctor” (Their exact words), which had turned out to be a haunting instead.  Apparently they had managed to piss off a spirit who had died years before in their house.  Not hard to believe as those two had been some of the most annoying people they had ever come across, and that was saying something.  Dean still occasionally had nightmares of the sisters screechy voices demanding they “un-curse them!” “Well when we thought it might have been a curse I came across a prophecy about sisters, but it was three not two.”  Sam shrugged.  “I didn’t spend much time on it, though I did think of the Sullivan girls.”

“Well gee, Sam, thanks for mentioning that.”  Dean glared as best he could while driving.

“Dean, it was just a hunch” Sam said, defensively.  “I wasn’t sure it was about them at all.  Just some of the pieces fit and-“

“What pieces?” Dean growled.  Sam inwardly rolled his eyes.  Ya, this was going to go well.

“Three sisters, born to a family of the sword, which I guess could mean a family of hunters.”

“That’s it?  That could be any of like a thousand families,” Dean argued.  Another gunning of the Impala’s engine and Sam took a deep breath.

“Dean, could you please not kill us?”  Bobby put in from the back seat.  Dean scowled but let up on the gas.  Bobby waited a few seconds, then satisfied that Dean was at least driving as safely as he normally did, he took up where Sam left off.  “There were other specific details that made it pretty clear this prophecy is about the Sullivan girls.” When Dean started to ask another question Bobby raised his hand. “You can read the whole thing when we get there.  Just for now, you need to calm down.  I know this family is special to you” Dean focused his eyes fixedly on the road.  “They’re special to us all, Dean. “

Inwardly Dean wanted to argue.  In his head he was telling Bobby “Nope, you have no idea.  You think they’re special, well to me it’s so much more than that.”  But he knew Bobby knew that and just wasn’t saying it, because that’s how they were. 

“Right now,” Bobby continued “They’re all pretty freaked out, or so I gathered from Erin.”

“Why all the urgency now?” Sam asked.  “I mean this prophecy isn’t new obviously, so why all the drama over it now?”

Bobby cleared his throat and shifted in his seat uneasily.  “Certain things have changed.  It’s always been pretty clear which of the girls different sections of the prophecy were referring to bu-”

“OK seriously, can you at least let me know the gist of this prophecy?” Dean interrupted.  “You two obviously know what you’re talking about, but I have no clue so kinda feeling in the dark here.”

“Roughly it says one will be a warrior, one a dreamer and one will have a gift” Bobby summarized.

“Obviously Lily is the warrior,” Sam interjected and Dean nodded.  That made sense to him.  Lily was tough, one of the best fighters he knew and easily able to hold her own in any situation.  Dean smirked at the proud little smile on Sam’s face.  He always had had a soft spot for Lily.  Way to crush on the older chick, Sammy.

“We’ve always assumed the dreamer was Rose.” Bobby said from the backseat, bringing Dean’s attention back to him.

“Because?” Dean motioned with his hand for Bobby to continue.

“Well it fits her, doesn’t it?  I mean, she’s all soft and…”Bobby stopped, realizing this was sounding weirder than he meant.  He cleared his throat and braced himself.  “And she’s had dreams in the past that panned out.” 

Brakes screeched, tired crunched and suddenly they were stopped.  Thank God they were on a quiet, deserted road or who knows what would have hit them.

“What? “ Dean said quietly.  Way too quietly, Sam thought nervously.   A quietly angry Dean was never a good thing.  Better the ranting and raving than the quiet, smoldering anger.

“In the past, Erin’s called me a few times, sometimes Rose has herself, with dreams of things….demons, things that she saw happening”  Bobby said.

“And these dreams, these calls, did they lead to cases we worked on?” Dean asked and Sam winced. 

Bobby was quite for a minute.  “Sometimes, ya.”

“Oh well that’s just great,” Dean said.  He glanced at Sam.  “Did you know this?”

“No Dean, I swear.  I had no clue.”  Dean nodded, appeased at least that Sam hadn’t been keeping this from him.

 “Dean, she couldn’t tell anyone.  Erin made her swear not to.”

“She told you” Dean said quietly.

“I was the only one she did, Son.  I know you and Rose are…” Bobby fumbled for the right word, settling on “close.  But she didn’t have a choice, Dean.  Erin has drilled in her head for years not to tell anyone.”

Dean was quiet for endless minutes and Sam could tell he was hurt.  Damn, he hated this.   He knew how badly Dean reacted to what he felt was a betrayal. 

“Dean” Sam, softly said.  “If Dad had made you swear not to tell….”

Dean took a deep breath and looked up at Sam with a small, grateful smile.  “Ya, you’re right, Sammy.  Thanks.”   Sam let out a relieved sigh.  Blow up of epic proportions had been prevented.  Or at least delayed.  One more deep breath and then Dean turned to Bobby and asked “OK so the girls got their powers or whatever…so what’s changed?” 

“Since Rose had dreams and Lily was the fighter it’s always been assumed Daisy would have the last one, the gift.”

“Ya, what the hell does that mean?” Dean asked, not liking the sound of it.  In his experience supernatural gifts very rarely turned out good.

“Nobody really knows, aside from the fact it’s powerful and probably dangerous.” Bobby said.  “There’s a part in the prophecy that makes it sound like the powers can shift, maybe going from one sister to the other.”

Dean stiffened in his seat, not liking the sound of that.  Rose having dreams, (albeit ones she kept from him and boy were they gonna have a talk about that) was one thing.  Rose having some kind of dangerous, unknown power was another.

Bobby continued.  “Rose hasn’t had a dream or vision in months.  And last night Daisy did.” 

Dean swore softly. 

Bobby shook his head.  “Erin is freaking out, she’s called in a few other hunters she trusts to-“

“I thought no one else knew but you” Dean broke in.

“Until today no one did.  Like I said, Erin is freaking out.  She called in two other guys she trusts but now she’s panicking that she shouldn’t have called them.  And Daisy..” Bobby shook his head.  “Daisy isn’t Rose.  She’s not handling the dreams and visions well at all.”

Sam and Dean both nodded.  Knowing the girls like they did, that made sense.  Rose was calm and centered.  Daisy was flighty and scattered.  The idea of her handling something like this calmly didn’t seem likely.

Bobby continued.  “I think Erin was working on something to help Daisy but it’s gonna take awhile.  And well now she’s worried that word will get out about the girls.”

“Ya, brilliant move calling in other guys, Erin”  Dean growled.  Sam shook his head.  Dean had always been easily irritated by the girls mother.  Daisy was actually a lot like her.  Sam grimaced at the thought of those two trying to calm each other down.  God, Lily and Rose must have their hands full.

“There’s also a lot of concern about what this means for Rose.  Will she start to get some new powers?  If so, what and can she handle them?” Bobby shook his head.  “Nobody really knows a lot right now.  We just need to get there and hopefully help sort this shit storm out.”

Dean swallowed hard, not wanting to think of what this could all mean for Rose.  He nodded resolutely at Bobby though and pulled the car back out onto the road.  He couldn’t do anything out here on the road.  Time to get to Hastings and see what they could do to help.


	4. It Takes All Kinds of Kinds

After the brief hug Lily headed down to the basement to see how things were going for her mom and youngest sister.  The basement was kind of like Hunter Central in their house.  All the books and weapons and what not were stored down there and it was Erin and Lily’s domain, for the most part.

The kitchen on the other hand was very much Rose’s area.  None of the other household members really cooked, but Rose found it soothing and relaxing, two feelings she would gladly welcome right now.  Knowing there would be some extra people at the house she decided to make bread.  Rolling and kneading the dough was great stress relief and nothing made the house smell as cozy as fresh baked bread.  While outwardly only Rose’s hands were busy, inwardly her mind was swirling.

Rose had her first dream when she was 16.  Gruesome images of blood and carnage, intermixed with familiar faces of hunters she knew, played out behind her closed eyes.  She woke up feeling panicked, but quickly calmed down, realizing this is what her mother had been telling her about all these years.  She slipped out of bed and woke her mother, who after listening to Rose’s dream in detail confirmed that Rose was right.  This was a prophetic dream and that mean she was the Dreamer.  The visions had started about a month later, though they were few and far between, for which Rose was grateful.  Dreaming at night was one thing, having a sudden image appear in front of your eyes while awake, like your very own personal movie, was unsettling and startling.  But at least Rose has been prepared for the dreams.  She was sure Daisy was freaking out and once she got this bread ready to bake she needed to head down and check on her herself.

And if Daisy was having dreams now then what did that mean for Rose?  Everyone had always assumed Daisy had the mysterious gift and Rose had always figured that Daisy loved all the drama surrounding that.  While her sisters had powers, well there’s were known and easily identifiable, but not Daisy’s.  No, hers came shrouded in so much mystery and intrigue and that suited Daisy perfectly.  She thrived on drama and the spotlight.  (“Oh sure, my sisters, ones a warrior and one sees the future, but me?  They don’t even know what I am!”)  Rose on the other hand didn’t mind being in the background, doing what she could to help, but feeling no need to be front and center and drama was something she could do without.  So while, if given the choice, she wouldn’t have chosen to have the dreams and visions, at least it somewhat suited her.  But now, well, Lily was obviously still the fighter and if Daisy was having visions that left only one candidate for the unknown power and that was Rose.  She shook her head and decided that was not a train of thought she wanted to go down right now.

Next her thoughts turned to their impending visitors.  Of all the ways she imagined Dean finding out about the prophecy this wasn’t one of them.  She had hoped at some point to convince her mother that they could trust the boys with the knowledge and that she could break it to him herself.  She understood why her mother had wanted the prophecy kept a secret and even now that it was all coming to light, if she had to do it over again she knew she still would have kept the secret.  She understood that others knowing who they were put them at risk and there wasn’t anything she wouldn’t do to protect those she loved.   Still, she hated the fact that this would hurt Dean, something she never wanted to do.  In the last year or so they had gotten closer than ever.  They talked on the phone regularly, texted several times a day and his visits had gotten more frequent and there had been some wonderful, special moments during those times.  Rose smiled to herself as she thought of some of those moments and the special way Dean made her feel.  She had known since she was very young that Dean was it for her.  Oh sure, there had been other guys she had dated and been involved with but no one serious, not really.  There had been no one who made her heart race with a simple smile, who made her laugh so easily and who made her feel like the most special person on the planet.  And when he put his hands on her…Rose gave an involuntary shiver of delight.  Dean was amazing…and Dean was also going to be really pissed off.  It wasn’t fair that keeping a promise had put her in a position where she felt like a naughty little girl caught fibbing.  Hmm, well not unless Dean maybe liked naughty little girls who got into an awful lot of trouble- Whoa, whoa, ok not going down that train of thought right now either!  Rose mentally shook herself.  Way to let your hormones run rampant, Rose, she chided herself.  Just thinking of Dean could do that to her. 

Rose had checked her phone a few times since Lily had told her the news and there hadn’t been any missed calls or texts from Dean since late last night (and that had been a particularly nice one).  She wasn’t sure if she should text him now or just wait till he got here to talk to him face to face.  What would she text exactly?  “Sorry I didn’t mention the vision that sent you after the ghost in Peoria was from me.”  Or maybe “Sorry about Appleton…wish I could have warned you.”  Ya, maybe it was best to wait till he got here.   This wasn’t really a conversation to have via text.

Finishing up with the bread Rose washed her hands and was preparing to go downstairs to check on Daisy when her mom suddenly burst through the basement door.  Erin was an attractive woman who usually looked well put together in her “hippie dippy” (Lily’s term for their mom’s look) way. But now her long brown hair was pulled back in a sloppy ponytail and quite a bit of it had fallen free.  There were quite a few sloshes and spills of some kind of liquid on her green peasant blouse and her free flowing brown skirt looked like it might possibly be on backwards.  She looked flustered and harried.

“Rose!  Come quick, Daisy’s having visions and they won’t stop!”  The panic was evident in her voice and in her eyes as well.  More concerning than that was the shrieking noises coming up from the basement…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one took me a bit longer...hope y'all like it.


	5. I Got Roots and I Got Wings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meanwhile in the Impala...

Sam glanced down at his phone, read the message with a small smile and a shake of his head.  He texted back quickly and caught Dean’s sideways glance when he looked up. 

“Textin’ your girlfriend, Sammy?” Dean asked with a smirk.

Sam glanced in the backseat before answering.  Bobby was snoring away back there, having mumbled about 50 miles back that he was gonna try to get some sleep.  He was out for the count now.  Turning back around Sam rolled his eyes at his brother.  Dean was always curious about the texts Sam and Lily exchanged.  It was a source of a lot of teasing, which for the most part Sam ignored.

“Seriously, what’s she saying?  What’s going on?” The mocking tone was gone from Dean’s voice now.

“Not a lot of details.  Just that things are crazier than usual.”   Sam frowned.  “Erin is having a melt down-“

“Surprise, surprise” Dean muttered.

“And Daisy is freaking out.” Sam continued as if Dean hadn’t interrupted.  He’d had years of practice doing that.  “She doesn’t seem to be able to handle the dreams like Rose did.”

“Well of course not.  She’s not Rose.” Dean said, matter of factly.

Sam knew from Lily’s exasperated texts there had already been a few tantrums from Daisy.  (Lily texted just like she spoke:  bluntly and with little editing.  Sam grinned inwardly.  It was something he found oddly charming about her.  So when she felt her sister was being a brat, she said so.) But that wasn’t what this was about.

“It’s more than that, Dean. “ Dean raised his eyebrows in question and Sam continued.  “I gather she’s having more of them than Rose had.  And closer together.  It sounds like an overload.”

“That sucks, man.” Dean commiserated.  He hated to think of Daisy going through something like that.  He caught Sam glancing at him out of the corner of his eye.  “What?”

“How mad are you at Rose?”

Dean swore softly.  “Damn, dude, I don’t know.”  He was quiet a minute, mulling over his thoughts and Sam left him to them.  Finally he spoke.  “On one hand, I get it.  There’s nothing I wouldn’t do to protect you.  She was doing what she had to, to protect her family.  I get that.  I do.  Hell, I even admire it.  That’s a big part of who Rose is, ya know?”  Dean smiled then shook his head.  “But I would be lying if I said it didn’t feel like a kick in the teeth that she didn’t trust me.”  Sam started to interrupt and Dean spoke over him.  “No, no, I get it.  I get that this was her mother’s deal and Rose was just listening to her.  I know I sound like a hypocrite ‘cause I listened to Dad that same way.  But still…that doesn’t change the fact that my gut,” He paused, then continued, “That my heart, says she didn’t trust me enough to keep her secret safe.”

Sam waited a few minutes to make sure Dean was finished then ventured.  “So, pretty mad?”

Dean chuckled.  “Ya, you could say that.” He stopped, whipping his head Sam’s direction when he saw Sam texting again.  “Wait, are you texting her?  Did she ask you that?”

“No, no.” Sam assured him.  A pause then “Lily did.”

“Damn it, Sammy why are you texting her about me?  That’s like, treason or something.”   Dean ran a hand through his hair, clearly irritated.  “And why’s she asking you anyway?”

Sam chuckled, amused at his brother’s flair for the dramatic.  “She’s watching out for Rose, Dean.  She’s worried about her.”

Dean grumbled a few sentences about what Lily could do with her worry.  Then after a minute he asked “What’s she worried about?  I wouldn’t do anything to hurt her.”

“I get the impression she’s worried about how Rose is going to handle being the one with this unknown gift.”  Sam sighed.  “You know Daisy is the one who is going to make all the fuss about this.  Not that she doesn’t have reason to” Sam added quickly, not wanting to sound unkind.  “But honestly, I think Lily is more worried for Rose.  No one has any idea of what this gift entails.”  Sam glanced at his brother.  “I think she’s really gonna need you, Dean.”

Dean glanced at his brother in surprise then fixed his eyes back on the road.  Even though it was a known fact that Dean cared for Rose and that those feelings were returned, it wasn’t something the brothers discussed.  Aside from the occasional teasing comment, their relationship, whatever it entailed, just was.  The fact that Sam said this now drove home the point of how serious this situation was.

Silence reigned in the car for a few minutes and Sam thought for awhile that Dean wasn’t going to reply.  Maybe he had overstepped, but he felt it needed to be said.  Finally Dean nodded, cleared his throat and gruffly responded.

“Well you can tell your nosy little girlfriend that I may be mad as hell at her sister, but it doesn’t mean for a second I won’t be there for her.”   He smirked at Sam.  “Might have to spank her pretty little ass for keeping a secret from me for so long,” Dean chuckled, knowing that would make Sammy squirm. “But we’ll be fine.  Whatever she needs, whatever I can do, she’s got it.”

Sam glared at his brother, then smiled and returned to his phone.  Honestly that was the answer (sexual comment included) he had expected, but wasn’t totally sure he would get. Dean wasn’t exactly known for being open with his feelings.  He hoped this assurance would help Lily some (sexual comment edited out, of course).  After texting her and then reading her reply he frowned and looked up at Dean.  “Good.  Now let’s just get there, ok?”

Dean nodded and smiled.  “You got it, little brother.”  And he pressed down harder on the gas pedal of the Impala, speeding them along through the night.  An hour tops and they would be there.

Sam didn’t share Lily’s last text, as he knew they couldn’t possibly go any faster.  But inwardly he was urging them along every mile, every second.  He glanced down once more to read Lily’s last text.

_Get here soon, Sam.  We really need you._


	6. The Truth Comes Out a Little at a Time

“What?” Rose exclaimed. “But she just started having dreams…she’s having visions already?”  She hurried to her mother’s side and they headed for the stairs.

“Yes and they’re coming one after the other.” Her mother literally wrung her hands as she lead Rose down the stairs.  “They won’t stop.  Maybe if you can talk to her somehow…you know how to handle the visions.”

Rose glanced at her mom in surprise.   “Mom, I didn’t have that many visions.  I didn’t really have to do anything-“

“Yes, yes” her mother said impatiently, rushing her off the steps and into the basement.  “But you know what she’s going through.  Help her!”

Rose stumbled slightly, then regained her footing and took in what was happening in the basement.   Mark and David, two hunters she knew only slightly were sat at the side of the room, near the tables.  Lily was sitting by Daisy, on the couch, who was emitting ear splitting shrieks, words and sobs.   Her blond curls were in disarray around her head and her whole body was shaking.  “Oh my God, the blood, the bloods everywhere.  There’s just so much of it, covering her…”

“Daisy”, Rose said gently, walking to her and sitting on her other side.  Daisy didn’t hear her, didn’t even seem to realize she was there.  Rose raised her voice a little.  “Daisy!  Daisy, listen to me, honey.”  Again, no response.  Rose looked at Lily, who just shrugged.  She obviously hadn’t gotten a result either.  Taking a deep sigh, Rose put her hands on Daisy’s shoulders and shook her.  “Daisy!  Daisy, I need you to listen to me!”

“Oh the hell with this” Lily muttered and drawing her hand back, she slapped Daisy sharply across the face.  “Daisy, snap out of it!”

“Lily!” Rose gasped.  Her mom started to come forward but apparently Lily’s action had the desired effect and got Daisy’s attention.

Her eyes focused clearly on her sisters finally and she shook her head, looking confused.  “Lily, why’d you hit me?”

Rose laughed and Lily hugged Daisy.  “Sorry, kiddo but we couldn’t get through to you.  You were freaking out big time.”

Daisy’s big green eyes filled with tears and she shook her head.  “Oh My God, you guys, it’s horrible.  The visions, I can’t stand them.”  The tears spilled over and streamed down her face.

Rose hugged Daisy as well.  “I’m sorry, baby.  Let’s calm down, OK?  See if we can figure out something to help.”  Rose looked at her mom.  “Mom, maybe there’s something you could make to relax her?” Her mom nodded and went to table, where some books were already layed out.  David spoke to her mom softly and Rose caught a few words that sounded like maybe he had found something that might work.  Rose turned back to her sisters.  “Maybe you could help mom, Lily?” Rose figured she would need Daisy’s full attention for this.  Lily nodded and went off to help their mom.   Rose sat back and took Daisy’s hands.  “In the meantime Daisy, we’re going to make sure you feel grounded.  It’ll help you calm down and you should be able to handle this all a little better.  Slip your shoes off, ok?  Put your feet flat on the floor.  Now I want you to concentrate on your breathing.”

After a few minutes of Rose talking to her gently and getting her focused Daisy’s shaking stopped and she did seem calmer.  The tears were still pouring down her face though and Daisy looked at Rose pitifully.  “I don’t want these visions, Rose.  You never had them this bad.  Why do they suck so much for me?”

Rose stroked her little sister’s hair.  “I did have a hard time at first, sweetie, but it got easier over time.”  She caught Daisy’s disbelieving look and added quickly “OK, not as bad a time as you’re having but it was rough at first.  It’s just going to take you some time to get used to it.  I guess maybe because they were supposed to be yours to begin with I never got them as strong.”

“Well, that’s not fair.  I don’t want to get used to it!” Daisy declared, pulling back from Rose.   Rose sighed, not at all surprised to get this response from Daisy.  Daisy may be nineteen now but throwing a tantrum wasn’t something she had outgrown yet.  Rose understood how she felt but throwing a fit wasn’t going to help anyone.  That wasn’t going to stop Daisy though.  “I want you to take it back.  You can have the sucky visions and the dreams and I..I…Oh God!  There’s another one!  It’s a demon and he’s covered in blood…”

Rose grabbed Daisy’s shoulders again.  “OK Daisy, calm down….slow your breathing.”  Her mom, Lily and Dave had turned in alarm at Daisy’s raised voice.   Mark, she realized was standing, leaning against the table watching them with an intent look on his face. 

Daisy was panicking.  “I can’t!  It’s too much!”  Her breathing was starting to pick up again.

Rose squeezed her shoulders.  “You can.  Focus on my voice and your breathing.  Tell me what you see.”

Daisy struggled to do as her sister said.  “It’s a house, a room with people in it and there’s a demon in the center of the room…he’s talking.”  Slowly, her breathing was returning to normal.  Rose took her hands down from Daisy’s shoulders and held one of her hands.

“Good job, Daisy.   What’s the demon saying?”  Rose glanced up at the group across the room and realized that Mark had walked closer to them.  She made a shooing motion at him, not wanting him to distract Daisy.  He grinned back at her.  A slight chill went down Rose’s spine.  What was he doing?

“He’s…he’s laughing…saying how long he’s been waiting and how his patience has finally payed off.”  Daisy was calmer now, her eyes closed, concentrating on the details.

Slowly Mark sauntered even closer.  Rose saw out of the corner of her eye that Lily had slipped away from her mom, coming their way.  She was still halfway across the room though. 

“What’s he been waiting for, Daisy” Rose asked, her eyes still on Mark.  His grin was from ear to ear, jovial and frightening.

Daisy scrunched her nose, concentrating.  The vision was fading.  “It was his mission…his job.  He had to find her.”

“Her, Daisy?” Rose asked faintly, her eyes slowly rising to meet Mark’s, where he stood over her.  

Daisy gasped and her eyes sprang open as she screamed “It’s you, Rose!  It’s you he was coming for!” just as Mark’s hand reached down and closed around Rose’s throat.

 

 


	7. And It Spreads Just Like a Fire

Dead silence.  That’s what followed Mark’s actions.  Even Daisy stopped screaming.  Everyone in the basement seemed to be taking a breath, (Except for Rose, who was finding it difficult to breathe with Mark’s hand wrapped around her throat) trying to grasp just what exactly was going on.  Then the dam broke and utter pandemonium took over.

While Mark drug Rose to the center of the room, Daisy started screaming again, Erin burst into tears, Lily started looking for a weapon and Dave just asked Mark in a dazed voice what he was doing.  Rose thought distractedly that all the noise would have made her head hurt, if her throat wasn’t hurting so badly.

“Shut up!” Mark yelled and silence reigned once again.  Mark looked down at Rose and grinned triumphantly, his eyes flashing black, leaving no doubt as to what he really was.  A demon, she was being held by a demon, Rose thought dimly. “You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting for this.  It took me years to get close enough to you all to be trusted.  Years of being a good, dependable friend and putting up with all your idiotic simpering, in the hopes I could figure out just which one of you was the prize jewel.” He gave Rose’s throat a little squeeze and she gasped for air.  “Personally my money was on the blond brat, who knew it would turn out to be Suzie Homemaker here?”

“Let go of my sister, you bastard” Lily yelled, swinging an axe she had finally gotten her hands on and stalking towards Mark menacingly. 

“Come one step closer, Buffy, and you’re little sister here won’t have a need for air anymore.” Mark gave Rose’s neck a hard squeeze, that left her gasping and Lily stopped in her tracks.  “Good,” Mark sneered.  “You’re smarter than I gave you credit for.”

Lily glared at Mark, her look one of anger and hatred.  “You better not hurt her or I swear to God I’ll-“

“Blah, blah, blah,” Mark retorted, obviously not scared in the least.  “Save the tough broad spiel for someone else.  I’m not interested.”  Mark’s head snapped sharply to his right, where Dave had been trying to sneak up on him.  “Sorry, Dave, you’re not important enough to make a fuss over.”  With a quick flick of his wrist he snapped Dave’s neck and he fell to the basement floor, dead.

Erin screamed and Daisy started to cry.  Lily just looked sick now, as well as angry.

“Mark, I don’t understand.  Why are you doing this?” Erin cried pitifully. 

“Oh come on, Erin.  Are you really that stupid?  No.” Mark raised a hand.  “Don’t answer that.  I already know the answer.  I’m doing this because your sweet little daughter here is the hottest thing going.  There’s a bigger bounty on her head than both the Winchester boys combined.”  He grinned down at Rose again and chuckled.  “And to think that I’m the one who figured out just who you are.  My boss is going to be so pleased.”

While all the chaos was floating around Rose, even though her body was still being held by Mark, even though her breathe was shallow, her mind was busy, flashing and full of thoughts and images and a feeling she couldn’t quite describe.  Waves of color were flowing over her, enveloping her mind so that she felt completely cocooned from everything going on in the basement.  “ _He needs to stop._ ” she thought, calmly, all traces of panic and fear gone from her.  “ _He just needs to stop now and be gone.  I can’t have him hurting anyone else._ ”  The waves of color intensified, blending and merging into one huge wave, a dynamic, bright orange and red, swirling, dancing faster and faster and pulsing.  A word escaped Rose’s lips: “Stop”.   And then the colors reached a crescendo and the only color Rose knew was black.

* * *

When Rose came to, the first things she was aware of was that she was sitting in water and that someone was holding her.  She opened her eyes to find herself lying on the basement floor, being held by Lily.  It wasn’t water she was sitting in though, but a pool of blood and she was covered in it as well.  “What happened?” she croaked, finding her voice hoarse and her throat sore.  She could hear crying and turned her head to see her mother holding a hysterically sobbing, blood covered Daisy.   

Lily followed Rose’s eyes and answered her unspoken question.  “She’s fine, Rosie.  Are you ok?” Lily was rocking her slightly, a sure sign she was worried.

Rose nodded slowly, though she wasn’t honestly sure.  Her throat hurt and there was blood and, she moved her arm to see it covered in (Bone?  Tissue?  Better not to think about that, her mind whispered.)  some other substances as well.  She looked like she had been the lead in a slasher flick.  She _felt_ like she had been hit in the head by a 2x4 and ran over by a Mac truck.

Rose was pretty certain she didn’t black out again but she couldn’t tell you how she got from the basement to her bedroom.  She just seemed to lose a chunk of time somewhere along the way.  She just knew she was there, with Lily crying softly and holding her up.  That shook Rose up.  Lily hardly ever cried. 

“Oh God, Rosie, I thought you were dead.  I thought Mark was going to take you and, and I couldn’t get to you in time.” Lily was shaking, she was crying so hard now, holding onto her sister desperately. 

“But you did,” Rose assured her sister, struggling to get the words out.  Apparently whispering was going to be her method of communication for a bit.  Lily only shook her head and sobbed harder.  Rose just hugged her and whispered “Love you”.

“I love you too, Rosie.”  Lily said, stroking her hair (her awful, bloody gross hair.)

“What happened to Mark?” Rose whispered, after Lily’s tears had lessened.  Lily looked at her in surprise.   “You got him, right?  He didn’t get away?”

“He didn’t get away.”  Lily said, slowly.  “We need to get some ice on your throat.  Here, put this on.”  Rose noticed the icepack in Lily’s hand for the first time.  She put it on her throat, wincing at the pain.  “I’m going to get the shower going for you, so you can get cleaned up.”

Rose followed Lily into the bathroom.  She watched as Lily started the shower running, then grabbed her hand as Lily turned back to her.  “What happened?”  There was something Lily wasn’t telling her and she wasn’t sure why.  Lily had never been squeamish about taking down a demon before.  She didn’t brag (much) and was usually just pretty matter of fact about it.

Lily sighed, then pulled Rose into another quick hug.   “Listen, I’ll tell you exactly what happened, but get cleaned up first, ok?”  Rose started to argue but Lily shook her head, in full big sister mode now.  “Shower, then we talk.”

Rose nodded her head, irritated but knowing Lily wasn’t going to budge.  Lily slipped out and Rose began the gross job of un-sticking her blood soaked clothes from her skin.  She threw the clothes into the hamper, seriously doubting they would ever come clean.  Stepping into the shower the hot water ran over her skin and quickly ran red, as it swept the evidence of the nights events down the drain.  Too bad it can’t sweep away the bruising on my neck, Rose thought, stepping out and looking into the mirror.  Already her neck was turning a blue and purple.  That’s gonna look great by tomorrow, she thought.

She came out to find Lily had left her pajama pants and her favorite comfy t-shirt out on the bed (“I read past my bedtime.” it proudly proclaimed.) along with warm, fuzzy socks.  OK, Lily was definitely going for comfort here.  Rose dried off, slipped the clothes on, and padded over to her tabby cat, Sookie, to bury her head in her soft coat.  Sookie had been MIA when they had first come upstairs, obviously deciding two girls with blood on them were worthy of hiding from.  Now thought she greeted Rose with a friendly purr, willing to offer comfort anyway she could.  “Oh Sookie, what’s going on?”  Rose murmured.  Rose glanced around her room, surprised to see how normal it all looked.  It seemed like after the events in the basement everything should look different. 

“Oh good, you’re out” Lily said, coming back into the room, washed up and in clean, comfy clothes herself.   She went to the bathroom and retrieved the ice pack.  “Keep this on your throat, Rosie.  It’ll help.”

Rose came and took the ice pack, putting it back on her throat.  “Will you tell me now?” Rose whispered.  Lily nodded and sat on the edge of the bed.  She patted the spot next to her and Rose came and sat.  Lily started softly stroking Rose’s hair, like she used to do when she was little and she couldn’t sleep. 

“When Mark had you, I was so scared, Rosie.  I couldn’t get to you and then Dave tried and-” Lily swallowed hard, not wanting to finish that sentence.  “And you were so still, I couldn’t even tell if you were breathing.”  Lily took a deep breath.  “And then all of the sudden you just looked right at Mark and said “Stop”.  Just like that, just stop and he did.  He froze.”  Lily suddenly wasn’t looking at Rose anymore, but was staring intently at the floor instead.  “Then you, you said some other stuff to him..and then his head exploded and his body just disintegrated.”

“He, what?  I don’t understand.”  Rose was confused.  “Did Mom do some kind of spell or something.”

Lily shook her head.  “I was right by her, Rosie.  She didn’t do anything.”  She looked at Rose directly, wanting there to be no question what she was saying.  “You did.”


	8. He Ain't Seen Me Crazy Yet

“Well I guess, they’re up,” Dean quipped, staring at the lit up Sullivan household.

Sam nodded and glanced at his phone.  “Ya, um, from Lily’s texts its sounds like things have gotten a bit out of hand.”

“What are we talking?  Throwing dishes?  Daisy throwing a fit?  Erin finally snapped?”  Dean was obviously feeling better now that he was here.  Here he could do something, as opposed to being on the road, unable to do anything but imagine the worst.

“ _Can’t believe I’m writing this but we have a body to dispose of and a lot of blood and…stuff to clean up.  Will give you details when you get here_.” Sam read aloud. 

“What the hell?” Dean asked, definitely not expecting that.

“Well, we ain’t gonna find anything out sitting here” Bobby muttered, opening the back door and sliding out. 

“I’m texting Lily we’re here” Sam replied, getting out of the car himself.  “She said just to let ourselves in, said Erin should be around.”

“Why where’s she at?” Dean asked, joining the other two men.  “And where’s Rose?”

Sam shrugged, pulling a key out and opening the door.  He’d had a key to this house as long as he could remember.  They all did.

The answer to where the two oldest girls were became clear as soon as the door opened.   Raised, angry voices could be heard coming from upstairs.  Dean raised an eyebrow at Sam.  This was new.  He knew siblings fought (Hell, he and Sam had had more than a few knockdown, drag out fights in their lifetime.) but aside from a few sharp words to each other Lily and Rose usually got along really well.  Something had obviously happened to push the two to this.

Ignoring the raised voices Bobby headed for the kitchen at the back of the house.  After a moment’s hesitation the boys followed.  They found Erin seated at the kitchen table, her head in her hands.

“Erin” Bobby said softly, alerting her to their presence.

She raised her head slowly and offered them something that in no way passed for a smile.  “Oh good, you’re here.”  There was a particularly loud yell from upstairs which Dean was pretty sure was Rose’s voice and Erin shut her eyes for a second.  “Things are such a mess.”

Bobby sat down at the table with Erin and motioned to the boys to sit down as well.  “Tell us what’s going on, Erin and how we can help.”

* * *

Upstairs in Rose’s room Rose and Lily were standing across from each other, glaring.  Lily had figured Rose would be surprised by what had happened in the basement, since she didn’t seem to remember much after Mark had grabbed her.  She hadn’t expected Rose to get mad though, when she explained but that’s just what had happened. Even now, though the yelling had mostly stopped, Rose still seemed to be in denial.

“That can’t be right, Lily.  I couldn’t move.  He had his hand around my throat so tightly.”   Tears filled Rose’s eyes for the first time since the night’s crazy events has begun and she wiped them away impatiently.  “I couldn’t move, could hardly breathe.  I’m not even sure I _could_ talk.”

“Well you did.  I’m telling you, I was there and you most definitely were talking.”  She paused and then looked at her sister nervously.  “I think you were controlling him, Rosie, like once you were talking he had no choice but to listen to you.”

Rose shook her head and her voice began to rise again, as panic began to rise in her chest.  “No.  No way.  That’s crazy.  There’s no way I could do that, Lily.  You’re talking about me controlling a demon!”

“I know what I’m talking about, Rose.  And crazy or not it’s what I saw.”  Lily paused, seeming to be torn on if she should voice her next thought or not.  That in itself scared Rose, since Lily usually just said whatever she thought.  “Maybe it’s part of your powers.  Daisy got your dreams and now you’re getting your new powers and this is a part of it.”

Rose looked at her sister, truly horrified.  Who in their right mind would want that power?  Staying away from demons, that was the sane thing to do, not try and control them.  “No, no way.  It’s not.  Don’t even say that.”

* * *

Meanwhile, downstairs Bobby was still talking to Erin, while Sam and Dean went down to the basement to see what damage they were dealing with.  They reached the bottom of the stairs and just stopped, shocked at what they saw.  It was a blood bath.  From the center of the room (Where Mark had been holding Rose, from what Erin had told them) to both sides of the room, blood and other bits of body parts were strewn.  Dave’s dead body lay further afield, nearer the tables where only splashes of blood had made it.

Sam took a deep breath and looked at his brother.  “Erin thinks Rose did this?  How?”

Dean looked stunned.  He had seen his fair share of carnage, well way more than his fair share to be honest, but to see this room and hear that Rose was responsible for it?  His mind just couldn’t grasp it.  Rose baked cookies and read books.  She flirted with him on the phone and giggled and was the gentlest person he knew.  Rose and the carnage down here just didn’t mix.  “I don’t know” he said, finally.  “But I want to see her.”

“You’re not still mad at her are you, Dean?”  Sam asked hesitantly.  He didn’t think this house could take another blow up.

“Oh come on, Sam, really?  Give me some credit, OK?” Dean sounded pissed and Sam backed off, acknowledging with his raised hands that he should know Dean better than that.  With one last look around the basement Dean stomped off upstairs and Sam quietly followed.

* * *

“You said something else, Rosie, after you said stop.” Lily was speaking quietly now, realizing her sister needed to know everything.  Maybe all the details would break through her wall of denial.

“What did I say, Lil?” Rose asked, sounding tired and scared.

“You need to stop now.  I need you to die.”  Lily looked at her sister, looking the closest to scared that Rose had seen her look since they were kids.  “That’s what you said, Rose, and then he did.  He died because you told him to.”

Rose just stared at her sister, not sure what to say or do.  She had told a demon to die and he had listened to her?  Who did that?  Who _could_ do that?

Just then there was a knock on the door and after a second Lily responded to come in.  Sam entered the room slowly, feeling the tension in the room and Dean followed closely behind, both their faces anxious as to what they were walking into.

“Hey guys-” Sam started slowly only to be cut off by Lily practically throwing herself into his arms.  He looked taken aback for a second but recovered quickly and wrapped his arms around her.  He stroked her hair and softly started asking her if she was OK. 

On a normal day Dean would have taken great pleasure in making a smart comment to Sam about him and Lily.  Tonight though, their embrace barely registered, as Dean was focused solely on Rose.  She had her arms wrapped around herself, looking lost and scared, with a huge purple bruise forming on her neck.  “Hey Rosie” he said, a soft smile touching his face.

Her eyes found his and despite herself she smiled back, though it was a dim version of her usual bright smile.  “Hi Dean” she whispered.    That was all she got out before her smile faltered and tears started to fall slowly from her eyes.

Dean was at her side in an instant, wrapping his arms around her, and pulling her tightly against him.  “Hey, hey, it’s OK.”

“It’s not though, Dean” Rose whispered “It’s all so, so bad.”

“Well whatever it is, we’ll figure it out, ok?  Dean ran his hands up and down her back, comforting and soothing her.  Dean met Sam’s eyes over Rose’s head and motioned with his head.  Sam nodded and started moving Lily in their direction. 

With his arms around her Dean started maneuvering Rose across the room as well.  “Come on, sweetheart.  Let’s go look at the stars.”

* * *

When Rose was a little girl she was afraid of the dark, so instead of having her own room she and Lily shared one.  Up on the highest level of their rambling house, the two Sullivan girls had an ideal little girls room, with soft, pretty beds, bookshelves to hold all their books, and plenty of space for their toys.  But best of all, their father built them a beautiful canopy made of the exact kind of fluffy, pretty fabric little girls love, in blue (Lily’s choice) and lilac (Rose’s choice) and placed it in their bedroom, near their windows.  He put plush bedding and soft pillows beneath it and then wound strings of tiny star lights underneath the fabric, so that his little girls could lie in their bedroom and look at the stars.  It became their haven, the place they would go to share their secrets and dreams.  It was the safest place they knew, in their little girl world.   

So it should come as no surprise that the night the Winchesters showed up at their door, that’s where Lily and Rose had taken them.  They didn’t discuss it. They just automatically took the boys to where they themselves felt safest and did their best to make them feel that way too.  Lily had carried baby Sam with her and lay down under the canopy, snuggling him against her.  Rose had lead Dean there by the hand, urging him to lie down next to Sammy.  Once he had laid down, Rose lay next to him and snuggled against him, hugging him and telling him he was safe now.  Dean laid there, tears falling down his face and let Rose soothe him, watching Lily take care of Sammy.  Instinctively he knew this was a good place and these two girls were too. 

“Look at the stars, Dean” Rosie had whispered, and Dean had looked up at the tiny star lights above them.  They twinkled and shone down on the four little children, who were so bravely clinging together, covering them in a soft, warm light.  “It’s safe here, Dean.  The scary things are all out there.  In here, with the stars, we’re safe.”

There, surrounded by two little girls he hardly knew, Dean felt loved and taken care of, on one of the worst nights of his life.  Over the years, whenever the boys would visit, the four of them would inevitably wind up under the canopy again.  Things changed; Lily moved to her own room, they all got much bigger (But still somehow fit, though there was much laughter at Sam’s feet sticking out.) and somewhere along the way the girls wound up in the middle instead of the boys, but still it was always back to the canopy for them, where they had felt safe all those years ago and started their friendships.   No matter how long it had been or what had happened, they were always drawn back there together, to look at the stars.

* * *

Dean settled down, pulling Rose down with him and cuddling her against his side.  He tucked her head under his chin and held her against him as tightly as he could.  He watched Sam do the same with Lily and gave a small nod of approval.  This was right; this is where they needed to be right now.  Teasing aside, relationship status aside, these were their girls.

Dean rubbed his hand softly over Rose’s back.  So many times over the years she had been the one to comfort him.  Very few people got to see the vulnerable side of Dean Winchester, but their relationship had started out with him being a vulnerable, scared little boy that not many people knew existed.  He always knew he was safe letting Rose see when he was hurt and it would never be used against him.  In turn, Rose doted on Dean.  She fixed his favorite meals, baked for him and bandaged his wounds if he was hurt.  She got him to talk about what was bothering him and offered advice or just listened, whatever he needed.  In all honesty, she mothered him to a large degree, though neither would ever put it like that.  But it fed something in Dean that he would never admit to himself needed fed.  He felt better when he was with Rose, less damaged, (And yes, she would have yelled at him for describing himself that way too.) more whole.  That feeling was irreplaceable.

So now, Dean was going to take care of Rose.  He was going to do whatever he could to get her through all this craziness.  Whether that meant fighting demons, doing research or becoming Rose’s own personal body guard he would do it.  For once he was going to be the one doing the caretaking, the one making sure Rose got whatever she needed.  He bent down and kissed her forehead lightly.

“You wanna tell us what’s been going on, baby?” he asked softly.

Rose looked up at him, her eyes huge and scared in her face.  She shook her head.  “Ask Lily” she whispered.  Suddenly she was the little girl who wanted her big sister to do the talking for her.  Dean’s heart ached to see her hurting like this.  He looked over her head at Lily, who had turned in Sam’s arms to face them.  When she nodded, Dean smiled softly down at Rose.  “You got it, Princess.”

Rose burrowed her head against Dean’s neck as Lily started telling the boys what had been happening.  Rose did her best to tune it all out and instead focus on the fact that she was being held in Dean’s arms.  She just prayed when everything was said and done, that he would ever look at her the same way again.


	9. Run and Hide Your Crazy

Dean listened intently as Lily recounted the night’s events.  He was quiet for the most part, asking a few questions, but mostly just rubbing Rose’s back, listening to Lily’s voice and taking in what she was saying.  Sam asked more questions than Dean and they were able to get a pretty clear picture of just what happened.  Everything except Rose’s point of view.  The whole time Lily was talking she just lay there, completely silent.  Dean had never known her to be so quite.  She didn’t react to anything Lily said or respond or add anything.  Her body may be there but mentally Rose had left the building. 

Dean sighed, glanced at Sam and inclined his head towards the door.  Sam nodded, clearly getting what his brother wanted.  He cleared this throat then said “Hey, I think I’m gonna go see Bobby, see what he’s thinking, moving forward and all.”

Lily nodded, throwing a compassionate glance her sisters way.  “I’ll come with you.  Mom gave Daisy something to help her sleep and I want to check on her.”

They left, holding hands (And Dean _did_ raise an eyebrow at that.  He was going to have _so_ much to tease Sammy about in the weeks to come.) leaving Dean and Rose alone.  Dean sighed, knowing he was going to have to push Rose to talk, and not really wanting to.  He wanted to give her time to adjust and take this all in, but he needed to have some idea of what was going on in her head first, some idea of where she was at.

“Rosie” he said softly.  No response.

“Rose” he said a little louder, sliding his hands down to her waist.  That got him a soft little “Hmmm?” in response.

“Come on, Baby, I need you to talk to me now.”   He slid his hands further, down over her hips, to her ass, giving it a squeeze.  “Wherever you’ve gone off to in that head of yours, you need to come back now.”

Rose slowly pulled her head back and looked up at him, looking dazed and sleepy.

“Hey,” Dean said softly.  “There you are.  You off in Wonderland or something?” 

Rose smiled.  “Something like that” she said, softly.

“You ready to talk?”  Dean smoothed her hair back from her face with one hand.  He kept the other hand firmly attached to her butt, as that touch seemed to keep her grounded in reality. (Sure, Dean, just keep telling yourself that’s your reasoning, his inner voice teased.)  Rose seemed very floaty.  Her eyes were huge and they looked dreamy and unfocused, like he had woken her from a dream and she wasn’t entirely awake yet. 

Rose shook her head.  

“Aw, Baby, I know, but you have to tell me something here, ok?  I need to know what’s going on in here.”  He tapped her head lightly.

Rose shook her head and started to burrow it against Dean’s neck again.  Dean pulled back and she gave him an injured look.  “Sorry, Rosie, but you have to talk to me.  I need to know what’s going on.”

Rose’s lips had set in a slight pout, which Dean took as a good sign.  A stubborn Rose he could handle better than a zonked out Rose.  To be honest, the dazed, unfocused look had him worried.  He wasn’t sure if she was in shock, which would be understandable, or if this was some left over affect of her powers manifesting.  If he could get her talking, maybe she would focus and snap out of it. 

Sookie chose that moment to make an appearance.  (She had made herself scarce again during all the yelling.)  She walked around Rose and Dean, inspecting just what they were doing in her room.  It was a great source of amusement, to everyone except Sam that Sookie loved Dean and generally favored Sam with nothing more than disinterested disdain.  Having decided their actions weren’t too objectionable to her, Sookie positioned herself behind Rose, camped out in the spot Lily had left, to watch the proceedings and offer her human moral support.  Dean leaned over and gave her chin a scratch.  “Hey Sook”.   Sookie offered up a deep purr in response.

Dean gave Rose’s butt another squeeze.  “Come on, Baby, tell me about the basement.  I know what happened but need to know what was going on with you.”

Rose looked up at him, all big eyes and tousled hair.  “I saw colors.”

Dean looked puzzled.  “Colors?”

Rose nodded.  “Reds and oranges and they were swirling.”  She licked her lips and then bit her bottom one.  “Like they were dancing.”

Dean frowned down at Rose, the tone in her voice concerning him.  If he hadn’t known better he would have sworn she was drunk.  He felt her head and she felt hot to his touch.  He was sure she hadn’t been this hot when he first hugged her.

Rose looked confused.  “I didn’t even know I had colors in my head.  Is that normal?”  She looked at Dean very seriously.  “Do you have colors in your head too?  Do you think they would want to dance with my colors?”  She frowned.  “But what if the colors didn’t match?  They might make a muddy color and eww.”  She shuddered.

“I’m sure our colors would be awesome together, Rosie,” Dean assured her.  Dean pulled his phone out and quickly texted Sam.  “ _Rose is burning up & not making a lot of sense.  Ask Bobby about an after effect of her powers.”  _

Rose giggled.  “We could be a beautiful painting, Dean.”  Then, suddenly serious “Are you mad at me?”

“No, Baby, we’ll deal with all that later, ok?  Just wanna get you feeling better.”  He stood and scooped Rose up in his arms and carried her to lay her down on her bed.  His phone buzzed “ _Bobby and Erin think it could be.  They’re looking for a specific book and then coming up to see her._ ”

Rose was frowning at him from the bed.  “I don’t want you to be mad at me, Dean.  Not ever, ever.”  She shook her head.  Then she paused and a mischievous grin took over her face.  “But ya know, if you weren’t really mad, maybe just a little tiny bit, that could be fun.  Right?  ‘Cause ya know, I can be naughty.  Remember?”

Dean definitely remembered.  That had been a very interesting text conversation, which had come from Dean teasing Rose about always being such a good girl.  That conversation still led to some achingly uncomfortable moments on his part when he thought about it, months later and had led to some great fantasies about Rose that had gotten him through some lonely nights.

_“You know, I’m not always a good girl.  I can be naughty.”_

_“Oh ya?  Now why would you want to be naughty?  Nothing wrong with being a good girl.”_

_“That’s boring.  But what if I was a good girl for everyone else and I was only naughty for you?”_

That line had made Dean catch his breath _._

_“That would be perfect.  But Rosie, ya know what happens to naughty girls, don’t you?”_

_“What???”_

_“Well naughty girls get spanked.”_

There had been a long pause after that and Dean had wondered if he had pushed it too far, until Rose’s response had came through.

_“You say that like it’s a bad thing.  ;)”_

Dean chuckled softly and sat down on the side of the bed.  “I remember, sweetheart and I promise that once things are settled down, we’ll have a nice, long conversation about all of that.”  Rose gave him a breathtakingly happy smile at this and Dean couldn’t help but laugh.  If nothing else at least her smile was back. 

“Oh, good.  I like conversations with you ‘cause I can look at your lips then.  You have really pretty lips.” Rose sobered suddenly and looked at him intensely.  “I killed a demon, you know.  I didn’t mean to but he was hurting me, he really hurt my neck and I was so afraid he would hurt everyone else.  He killed Dave, you know.”  She shuddered and Dean nodded and stroked her face, trying to offer what comfort he could.  “He had such a tight hold of me and I’m not like Lily, you know.  I don’t know how to fight.  I’m not strong like you guys are.”  She paused, appearing to think deeply.  “But I guess my mind is strong when it’s filled with colors.”

“You’re strong, Rosie, just in a different way” Dean said, before Rose changed topics and started babbling about Lily and Sam.  While Dean was wondering if Bobby and Erin were ever going to find this damn book and get up here, he was also wishing he could record what Rose was saying.  It was priceless.

“Don’t you think it’s funny that Lily likes Sam?  I mean, he’s a baby.  Well, he’s very big for a baby, I mean, I know, but still.  But Lily thinks he’s hot.  Last time you guys were here I walked in on them and she was on his lap and whispering in his ear and he was moaning.”  Rose giggled.  “They both turned sooo red when they saw me.”  Then she looked at Dean seriously.  “They can keep each other safe though.  So that’s good.”

Bobby and Erin came through the door then and Dean gave a sigh of relief.  Amusing or not, Rose being so out of it was scary.

“Bobby!” Rose greeted Bobby with unbridled joy.  “You’re here!  Did you come to kiss my mom?”  Dean looked at Bobby in shock while the older man turned several shades of red and Erin studied the carpet.  Was there anything going on in this house Rose didn’t know about?  And was everyone hooking up?

“Hey Rosie” Bobby said gruffly, once he’d gotten his composure back.  “How are you feeling, sweetie?”

“Oh I feel all swirly.” Rose waved a hand through the air in a wavy pattern to demonstrate just how she felt.   She smiled at Bobby and pointed to Dean.  “He’s just so, so pretty.”  Then she suddenly glared.  “I don’t think it’s fair he has those eyelashes though.  Girls use all kinds of mascara and crap to get eyelashes like that.  Well, I don’t ‘cause I poke myself in the eye, but other girls do.  And he just has them.” Rose had become the queen of rambling.   “Oh my God!  He has the greatest butt too.  Seriously, Dean, turn around and show them.  It’s amazing.”  Dean wasn’t sure who looked more uncomfortable at Rose’s words: Him or Bobby.  Dean settled on ignoring Rose’s request and cleared his throat and asked:

“So any idea what’s going on with her?”

Bobby had a big book in his hands that he motioned with.  “Supernatural Manifestations and Repercussions by Dr. Morris Egard” it said in big bold letters.  “We think she’s having, well something akin to an overheating from her powers.”

“Is that normal?” Dean asked, trying to tune out Rose’s whining in the background.  Apparently his refusal to show off his “beautiful butt” (The exact words she was saying to her mom right now) had made her just so, so sad.

Bobby shrugged.  “Normal’s not really a concept that applies here.  Controlling demons is a pretty strong power, about as strong as it comes.  So even if we assume that’s the only power she has it’s-“

“Wait, you mean she could have more?” Dean interrupted, looking alarmed.

Bobby nodded and scratched the back of his neck.  “One of the other books I had looked at on the prophecy definitely seemed to think so and the wording of the prophecy itself seemed to indicate that.”

“Great, because just one power obviously isn’t enough,” Dean muttered, eyeing a giddy Rose.  “I need to see this damn prophecy once we get her settled” Dean growled and Bobby nodded.

“We think if we can get her fever down and she can sleep her body should right itself.”  Bobby nodded toward the bed, where Erin was sitting next to Rose, listening to her ramble about Dean (Now she was rhapsodizing over his hands, which apparently were so big and manly they gave her shivers.  Dean decided he may never be able to look Erin in the eye again after this.  Then again she was sneaking around kissing Bobby so maybe they were even.)  She had a green vial in her lap.  “Erin made up a concoction of elderflower and passiflora.  Those two should do the trick.” 

Dean watched as Erin gently told Rose she needed to take this medicine to make her feel better.  Rose sealed her lips together and shook her head.  Well so much for the easy route.

“Rose,” Bobby started “The medicine will make you feel better.  Doesn’t your head hurt?”

Rose nodded slowly, considering Bobby’s words.  Erin reached to move the vial towards Rose when suddenly it flew out of her hand and landed across the room on a bookshelf.  There it sat neatly, as if placed there on purpose.  Which judging from the smug look on Rose’s face it had been.

“Rose, did you do that?” Erin asked, looking nervously from her to the shelf.  Rose nodded her head proudly.  Erin slowly got up and walked over to stand by Bobby and Dean. 

“So that would be another power?” Dean said quietly to Bobby.

“Looks like,” Bobby replied.

“Dean, Dean did you see that?” Rose asked joyfully.   “I did that!” 

“Ya, Baby, I saw.” Dean acknowledged, not sure whether he should give her a thumbs up or tell her to calm down.  What was the proper protocol for responding to someone gaining telekinesis?

Apparently this power was much more to Rose’s liking.  She proceeded to pick up three stuffed teddy bears and dance them around Dean and Bobby, giggling and clapping her hands all the while.  Dean and Bobby both just stared at the bears dancing around them.  Of all the weird things Dean had seen this was up there.

Sam chose that moment to stick his head in the door.  "Hey guys we got the basement-Whoa, dancing bears!"

Ok this had gone on long enough.  Dean batted the bears aside and stalked over to the bed where Rose lay giggling.  Her eyes were bright and glassy, here fever obviously not going down.

He sat down next to her again and felt her head.  Damn it, she was burning up.  "Enough, Rosie.  You need to calm down and take the medicine your mom brought you."

"But Dean, I like this" Rose whined.  "This is fun."  The teddy bears were now in fact jumping off and on Sam's head, taking turns.  Sam looked less than amused.

Dean looked over his shoulder at Bobby.  "Hand me the vial, will ya?"  A second later it was in Dean's hand and he turned back to Rose.  “Rosie, I need you to stop with the bears, ok?”  Rose pouted but after a second the bears landed neatly on the chair where they had been to begin with.  Sam looked relieved to not be getting pelted with bears any more.  “Good girl,” Dean acknowledged and Rose beamed.  “Now listen, you have a temperature and I know your head hurts, right Baby?”  Rose nodded slowly, not wanting to admit this again.  “That’s why you need to take the medicine.  It’ll help and you’ll feel better.”

Rose gave a big sigh and crossed her arms, looking very put out by this logic.  “OK, I’ll take the stupid medicine,” she muttered.  She opened her mouth and swallowed the medicine from the vial when he held it to her lips.

“Good girl” Dean said again, earning himself another big smile.

Dean turned to the others in the room.  “I’m gonna stay with Rosie till she falls asleep.”  All three nodded and shuffled out.

Turning back towards the bed Dean said “Scoot over, Rosie and I’ll cuddle you till you fall asleep.”  She did and he tucked her in and snuggled down on the bed with her, holding her in his arms.  She cuddled up against him and already he could hear the sluggishness in her voice when she spoke to say “Good, I like when you cuddle me, Dean.”

Dean kissed her forehead gently.   “You’ll feel more like yourself when you wake up,” he said, hoping that was the truth. Minutes later her breathing evened out and she was asleep.  Sookie jumped up on the bed next to Rose and curled up in a ball, ready to join her mistress in a good nights rest.

Dean got up from the bed, making sure Rose was all tucked in and was pleased to feel she was already a little cooler.  Or was that wishful thinking on his part?  He’d send Lily up to check on her when he got downstairs.  With one last look at a peacefully sleeping Rose, he headed out the door and down the stairs to finally get a look at this prophecy.


	10. Wish I Had a Magic Wand

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all finally get to read the much talked about prophecy.

**Prophecy of the Sisters**

  
**And it will come to pass that there will be three sisters, born to a family of the sword.**

**One will be a mighty warrior, fierce and strong. Many lives will be saved and many will be lost, to her blade.**

**One will have the vision to see what will come. In dreams and in waking, things will appear to her that others cannot see. But tides change, as do visions.**

**One will have a gift unlike any other. She will possess a strength that can fell the darkness and the demons. Her powers will be mighty and her burden will be great.**

**These three sisters will shape the future that is to come.**

\----

Dean blinked, having read the prophecy through three times now.  Every time he grew a little angrier that he had been kept in the dark for so long.  Sitting across from him Sam could sense his growing ire and tried to think of something to stop the upcoming tirade.

“You said Rose was feeling cooler” he asked, turning to Lily who was sitting next to him, hoping to distract Dean.  Despite the basement having been cleaned up they had opted to bring the books up to the living room.  No one really was in the mood to be in the basement.  Every book they owned that even hinted at the prophecy was being looked over, in the hopes that some fresh eyes would catch something.

Lily nodded.  “Yep, cool as a cucumber and sleeping like a rock.  She was totally out of it.”  She looked at Dean.  “I can’t believe I missed the show.  She was really that crazy acting?”

Dean snorted.  “The craziest of the cray.”  He smirked wickedly.  “And boy, did I get some juicy details.”  Both Sam and Lily turned red and showed an increased interest in the books laid out in front of them.  Dean chuckled.  He knew full well what Sam was trying to do. 

“So obviously you’re the warrior, Xena” Dean commented, glancing Lily’s way.   “And Daisy would be Vision Quest.”  He sighed.  “And Rosie gets the gift.”  The one with all the burdens attached to it.  Great. That reminded him, he had something he wanted to ask Lily about.

“Hey something Rose said has me wondering.  Does she really not know how to fight?” 

Lily nodded.  “Yep, not in the slightest.”  She reconsidered.  “Well, she may know the trick about using your keys if you’re grabbed in the parking lot, but I think she got that from our high school gym teacher.  She was big on safety in parking lots.  But ya, that’s about it.”

Sam and Dean were both staring at Lily, their shock evident on their faces.  Sam recovered first.  “Your dad was a hunter.  How’s it possible he didn’t teach you guys to fight?”

“Oh, he taught me.  We spent a lot of time practicing hand to hand and even working with weapons.  And he taught Daisy quite a bit.”  Lily shrugged.  “Just not Rose.”

Dean gave Sam a look.  “Can I ask why the hell not?” he asked sharply.

Lily slammed the book in front of her shut with a bang.  “Because Rose didn’t want to learn.  She didn’t like fighting or guns or anything like that.”

“So your Dad just let her…skip it?” Sam was seriously floundering here.  The idea of John Winchester letting either of his sons get out of any sort of training because they didn’t want to do it was laughable.

Lily looked Sam in the eye.  “Did you ever see my Dad with Rose?” she asked the sarcastic tone in her voice unable to miss.

“Of course,” Sam said.  "He loved to brag about what a good cook she was.  And didn’t she play soccer or something when we were little?  I think I remember him talking about her games.”

“God, I had forgotten about that.  Rosie was terrible!  I think she was the worst peewee soccer player in the history of the league.”  Lily gave a small laugh.  “But ya, that sounds about right.  Rose had our Dad wrapped around her little finger, you guys know that.”  Both boys nodded.  “Fighting made Rosie unhappy so he didn’t make her do it.”  Lily leaned back on the couch, crossing her long legs out in front of her and crossing her arms as well.  “Plus, he figured she wouldn’t need to.  I mean, it was obvious she was the one meant to keep things running here at home and she was good at it, so why force her to learn stuff she was never going to use?”

“Well except she needs it” Dean sputtered. 

“Well ya, we know that now but until today-“

Dean was shaking his head.  “Before today.  What would have happened if a demon got in here?  You know, like Mark did?”

“I would have protected her.  And anyway, he just went after her because he figured out she had this power” Lily argued.  “

“Demon’s don’t just go after people to get something, Lily.  We’ve seen countless people killed in their own homes just because a demon wanted to kill them.”  Sam was trying to be gentle with Lily but even he was astounded by this family’s naiveté.

“Demon’s can go after anyone, anytime.  The fact you all have this prophecy about you is an extra reason she should have been trained” Dean said.

“You know, I seem to recall you guys getting taken hostage by demons yourself more than a few times.  Getting beat up, tortured.  All your training obviously really helped you, huh?”  Sam had to hide his smile at that.  She did have a point.

Dean narrowed his eyes.  “Ya well, we got out of those situations too.  Know why?  We were trained.”

Lily looked pissed.  She obviously felt her family was being criticized and that didn’t sit well with her.  “Well a demon has never come after any of us at home till today.  It’s never happened before, not in our whole lives.”

Dean started to answer but was cut off by Bobby entering the room.  “That’s because your mom and I had wards and sigils around the place.  Obviously someone broke those.  And before you ask” he said, looking at the boys, “No, I didn’t know Rose hadn’t been trained.  I assumed she had been, the same as the other girls.”

“Well that’s just fucking great” Dean muttered, getting to his feet and starting to pace.  “A girl from a prophecy, with absolutely no way of protecting herself.  Absolutely brilliant.” 

“She did ok tonight!” Lily retorted.

“And look what it’s cost her!  She’s not used to killing, Lily.  She’s torn up over it.”

Lily was on her feet now too.  “Well she’ll just have to get used to it, won’t she?  Just like I did, when I was a hell of a lot younger than her.”

“Well maybe if you guys hadn’t kept everyone in the dark and trained her to fight like you were supposed to, she wouldn’t have had to kill him” Dean said angrily, glaring at Lily.  “Maybe she could have fought him off and not made his damn head explode!”

“Guys, let’s calm down” Sam interjected, looking to Bobby for back up.  “Let’s all take a breath.”

“Oh so it’s my fault?” Lily yelled back.  “I didn’t have a say in any of this, you know!”

“Dean!  Lily! “Bobby barked.  “Both of you sit down.”  They glared at each other before both taking a seat.  “I know you’re both upset and worried but this isn’t helping.”

“But Bobby how-“ Dean started.

Bobby cut him off.  “It ain’t helping, so shut it.”  Bobby gave both Dean and Lily a stern stare and added “Unless the next words to come out of your mouth will help, keep them shut.”  And he stalked off.

* * *

About an hour later it occurred to Sam that nobody had eaten anything that night.  Between the aftermath of the chaos when they arrived, to getting a re-tell of events, to Rose’s meltdown, food had just fallen by the wayside.

Looking at Dean sitting in a chair across from him, reading (“The Supernatural Index”), he nudged him with his foot.  Dean raised his head. “Food?” Sam asked.

Dean shrugged.  “I could eat.”  They both looked at Lily, who had fallen asleep, curled up on the couch with a book in her arms. 

“Leave her,” Sam said.  “If she wakes up we’ll make her something to eat, but right now she could use the rest.”  He covered her with a throw blanket and slipped the book out of her arms.  Lily didn’t even stir.

The boys headed off to the kitchen, knowing from experience there would be something there they could grab for a quick meal. 

“Go easy on Lily, Dean” Sam said, “She takes responsibility for both her sisters and blames herself for a lot.  She didn’t have a lot of choices here.”

Dean nodded, knowing Sam was right.  “Ya, you’re right, Sammy.  We’ll talk when she’s awake.  We’ll be fine.” 

Sam wandered over to the fridge while Dean inspected the bread dough on top of the oven.  He left that alone, figuring Rose had plans for it.  He spotted a pie on the counter and grabbed that happily, taking it over to the counter with him, snagging a server, forks and plates along the way.  While Sam rummaged in the refrigerator Dean took a seat.  Sam emerged with a casserole dish, which he deposited on the counter and started peeling foil off of, then turned to pop it in the microwave.

“What are we going to do with them, Sam?” Dean asked suddenly, causing Sam to look over at him.

“What do you mean?” Sam asked.

“He means we can’t leave Rose here” Bobby said, entering the kitchen.  “Not now, not when she’s got powers manifesting left, right and center.”

“And she can’t protect herself “Dean said, cutting into the pie (Mmm, blueberry) and serving himself a huge slice.   He motioned to the pie and Bobby nodded.  Dean served up slices for both the other men and then Dean dug into his slice and let out a moan.  “Damn, she makes good pie.”  Another moan escaped his mouth and Sam rolled his eyes.

“Right” Bobby agreed, ignoring Dean’s pie induced ecstasy.  “And even though we can assume for now that Rose’s powers aren’t common knowledge, we can’t be sure it will stay that way.”  He took a bite of the pie himself.  “Damn, that is good.”

Dean grinned at him.  “Right?”

“Let me try this,” Sam said, coming over and grabbing his slice.  He took a bite and admitted “God, that’s amazing.”  Dean was proudly grinning the whole time.  Sam swallowed then said “OK so that puts all of them in danger, not just Rose.  So what do we do?”   The microwave dinged, signaling the casserole was ready.  Sam went over and started dishing up servings for all of them.  The discussion stopped for a few minute as they all dug into the casserole, which had chicken, vegetables and some kind of white sauce.  “God this is wonderful too,” Sam muttered. 

Dean smiled smugly.  “My girl can cook.”  Sam just rolled his eyes at him and kept eating.

“Well, I’ll tell you one thing we don’t do, no matter what we come up with tonight” Bobby said.  Both boys looked at him questioningly.”  We don’t decide for them.  We can come up with a plan and lay it out for them, but we’re not forcing them to go along with it or twisting their arms.”

Sam and Dean both looked offended. 

“Bobby we wouldn’t-“ Sam started.

“Oh, like we would do that?” Dean huffed.

“I know what you two are like when you’re in protective mode.  You push whoever you’re trying to take care of, to do whatever you think is best.  You do it to each other, you do it to me and I’ve seen you do it to others to.”  Bobby raised his hand to hold off their protests.  “Look, you have good intentions, I know that and you’re hearts are in the right place.  But if you try to push these women into something they don’t agree with, it will come back to bite you.  Whatever course of action we take, it’s not gonna be a quick solution.  This is gonna take time to sort out.  May I remind you we don’t even know if Rose’s powers are done manifesting yet?  Whatever happens we need them all to be on board with this, not forced into a plan they don’t agree with.”

Sam and Dean both looked a bit put out at Bobby’s description of them but neither was stupid enough to argue.  Especially not when deep down they knew it was true and what he said made sense.

“Where is Erin, anyway” Sam asked, clearing his plate and dishing up more.  He spooned out more onto Dean and Bobby’s plate as well. 

“Sleeping.  Is Lily still awake?” Bobby looked at Sam.

“She’s asleep on the couch.  I’ll take her up to her room when we’re done here.”

“All right then, let’s hash out a plan here.”  Bobby took the last bite of casserole and pushed his plate away.  “Then let’s get some sleep ourselves and we can discuss it with all of them tomorrow.”

Sam cleared the now empty plates away and they all sat around the counter, brainstorming.  After about an hour they had the makings of a rough plan they thought would work.  Hopefully everyone else would go for it too and they could put it into motion.

“Night boys” Bobby said, heading off to get some sleep.  “Let’s hope they go along with this.”

“Night Bobby” they both called.  They headed into the living room, turning out lights as they went.  Sam picked up Lily, who was still sleeping and hardly stirred when he picked her up.  Dean snagged his bag from the living room, taking it up with them.  Sam must have stowed his away earlier.

“You got her?” Dean asked and Sam nodded.  Dean led the way, opening Lily’s door so Sam could put her to bed. 

“What?” Sam asked, when he turned from taking Lily’s socks off to find Dean standing in the doorway, watching them and grinning. 

“Oh, I was just wondering if you were going to pretend to sleep in our room and sneak in here later?  Or just admit you’re sleeping here.”  Dean smiled innocently. 

“So should I ask where you’re sleeping tonight?” Sam asked, walking towards the doorway.

“Oh, I’m sleeping in Rose’s room.  She’s knocked out and needs someone to keep an eye on her."  Dean nodded solemnly.  “It’s what a good friend would do.”

Sam laughed softly. “Ya, good friends, that's just how I would describe you.”  This time it was Sam doing the smirking.   “You send dirty texts to all your good friends?”  Dean looked shocked for a second then turned and walked off.  Sam laughed again as he heard a quietly muttered “Son of a bitch” float back his way.  “Night Dean” he called, closing the door.

Dean headed upstairs to Rose’s room, wondering if Sam had been looking at his phone or was just going on a hunch.  Rose was curled up under the blankets, sound asleep with Sookie on the pillow next to her.  He walked over and gently stroked her face and she moved slightly at his touch, but didn’t wake.  She was really out.  He quickly got ready for bed, pulling on sweats and a t-shirt (much more than he usually slept in but he was on Rosie watch.)  Then he slipped under the covers and leaning over, placed a soft kiss on Rose’s forehead.  “Night, Rosie.”  Then Dean closed his eyes, and let sleep over take him.


	11. The Only Man Who's Ever Set My Spirit Free

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we get a little romance and a whole lot of emotion.

At some point in the early hours of the morning, Rose woke briefly.  Her head throbbed and still felt slightly fuzzy, her body ached and her throat felt, well, like someone had tried to choke her.  She also had a warm body pressed up against her, which was definitely not a normal occurrence.  She opened her eyes to see Dean sleeping next to her, his face buried in her hair, one arm wrapped around her and the other under his head.  It had been years since she had woken up next to him, back when they were little kids and would fall asleep under the stars in her room.  She smiled softly, feeling watched over and taken care of and let herself drift back to sleep.

* * *

The next time she woke it was much later.    

“Oh good, you’re awake.  Finally.”

She turned her head to see Daisy sitting on the bed next to her, her legs stretched out and her phone in her hands.

“What time is it?” Rose muttered.  If she didn’t know better she would swear she had been on a drinking binge the night before.

Daisy hopped up.  “It’s almost noon.”  She came around with a glass of water and some aspirin in her hand.  “I’m supposed to give you these.” 

Rose swallowed the pills, murmured her thanks and then lay back down.

Daisy came back around the bed and sat down again, picking up her phone and texting furiously.  “How are you feeling?” she asked, looking at her sister curiously.

Rose moaned.  “Like crap.”   She closed her eyes, taking stock.  Her head felt less fuzzy though, so that was one good thing.  She could think straight, which was a nice change from last night.  “So what did I miss?”

“I should totally be asking you that question” Daisy huffed.  “Lily said all kinds of stuff happened after I went to sleep.”  Rose rolled her eyes.  Daisy was the eternal kid who was sure the grownups were doing fun stuff after she went to bed.  “Dean made everyone breakfast.  He made pancakes which were super good.  I’m supposed to tell you they weren’t as good as yours and that he cleaned up afterwards.” She paused then added “They were really yummy though.”  She gave Rose a big smile, which Rose took to mean Dean’s pancakes were actually better than hers.  That was ok, her ego could take it.   “Everyone’s been looking and re-looking at all of moms books this morning.”  She rolled her eyes.  “Like they’re gonna find something new.”

Rose reached out an arm and tugged Daisy down so she was lying next to her and she could look into her eyes.  “Any more visions?”

Daisy shook her head.  “Nope.  Maybe I won’t have any more?”  She looked at Rose hopefully. 

Rose shook her head, sadly, and tucked a stray curl behind Daisy’s ear.  “I wish that were true, Sweetie.”

Daisy sighed.  “Ya, I didn’t think so.”  Her phone buzzed and she looked at it and giggled.  “I gotta go now.  Dean’s coming up.”  And quick as a flash Daisy had slipped off the bed and was out the door.

Rose panicked slightly and sat up.  God only knew what she looked like.  She felt her hair and could tell she had a major case of bed head.  Before she could even think of getting up to try and fix the damage Dean was sticking his head around the door.   She remembered most of last night, though some of it was fuzzy.  From the grin on his face she had a feeling there was a lot she was never going to live down.

“Morning, Sunshine!  How are we feeling?” he asked, closing the door behind him and strolling across the room. Sookie gave him a friendly meow in greeting from atop her cat tree.

“Achy and sore but clearer headed than last night” she replied cautiously.

“Feel a bit more like yourself?”  She nodded and Dean grinned.  “Any more family gossip you wanna share?”  Rose stared, an alarming feeling sneaking over her.  “Anything about, oh I don’t know, Sam and Lily?  Bobby and your mom?”

Rose buried her head in her hands.  “Oh God, what did I say?  No” she said, raising her hand.  “I don’t want to know.”

“No?  Well how about your comments about me?  Those were much nicer and I, for one greatly enjoyed them.”  Dean was grinning and practically strutting around the room while Rose squirmed in embarrassment.  “I mean what guy doesn’t want to hear how wonderful his lips are?  Or about his amazing eyelashes?  And let’s not forget my hands.  Though personally “he stopped with his back to her and cocked a hip in her direction, “hearing what a great butt I had, that made my day.  Though the part where you wanted me to show your mom and Bobby how beautiful it was, that was a bit embarrassing.”

Rose moaned, mortified.  “Oh God, kill me now.”  The bed dipped down and Rose peaked through her fingers to see Dean climbing on the bed.  He crawled up the bed towards her and slowly reached up to move her hands from her face.  “And you, Miss Sulivan, had to bring up a certain text conversation we had.”  Dean shook his head at her.  “Such a flirt.”  Before Rose could respond Dean’s lips were descending onto hers, pulling her into a deep kiss. 

* * *

Dean had woken early, finding Rose still sleeping peacefully.  The house was quite and he was fairly certain he was the only one awake.  He used the time to watch Rose and to think.  He and Rose had been involved in this holding pattern for roughly a year now.  They had always been friendly, border line flirty, never questioning that the other one was important and special but never crossing the line from friendship to something more.  But in the last year things had heated up.  A little over a year ago there had been a kiss, the first between them, which was hard to believe considering how much history there was.   It had always felt to Dean like they were both waiting, he wasn’t sure for what exactly, but there was never a question something would happen between them.  It was just a matter of how and when.  The first kiss had been unlike any other kiss in Dean’s life.  It was gentle and passionate and it felt like it had been worth waiting for.  Dean wasn’t exactly a patient man; he hated waiting for anything so that feeling surprised him.  But the kiss, like everything else with Rose was different.  That first kiss led to more kisses, each hotter and more passionate than the last one, which led to stolen moments where they made out like teenagers.  Dean chuckled, thinking it was nothing short of a miracle that Sam and Lily had been caught and they hadn’t.  He had no idea how.  The texts had flown back and forth between them as well, often veering into sexy, x-rated confessions and long drawn out conversations.  There had been little time this past year when Dean wasn’t thinking of Rose in one way or other.   Dean stroked Rose’s face gently, watching her sleep.  He hated that all of this was happening to her.  He wanted to fix it for her and he knew that was something he couldn’t do.  What he could do though was be there every step of the way.  And time with Rose was, in his opinion, always a good thing.

* * *

Dean’s hands held Rose’s face as he kissed her.  His lips were warm and full and she lost herself in the kiss.  She whimpered softly, wrapping her arms around his neck, as his tongue slowly flicked over her bottom lip, slowly teasing it’s way into her mouth.  His hands slid from her face to tangle in her hair, as their tongues met, entwining, tasting each other slowly.  He stretched out so his body was flush against hers and she gave a soft sigh into his mouth.

He pulled back to look at her.  “OK?’  I’m not hurting you, am I?”

“Nope, but if you don’t get back to kissing me I may hurt _you_ ” Rose said, smiling sweetly.  That earned her a cheeky grin and a hotly murmured “Yes, Ma’am” before Dean settled his lips back on hers.  Her hands threaded through his hair and she angled her head just slightly, to deepen the kiss.  Dean kissed like he did everything else; thoroughly and with passion.  Rose felt herself melting against him and as he moved from her mouth, to feather kisses across her throat she drew her hands over his shoulders, down his back, stroking and caressing as she went.  His lips lingered on the purple bruises on her throat and she felt, as much as saw him frown.  “Wish I had been here.  That bastard would have never gotten close to you,” he muttered, kissing each mark gently. 

“I know, Dean but I’m fine.  Really and oh!” her breath caught as he placed a long, open mouthed kiss on the side of her neck. 

Dean chuckled.  “You like that, huh?”  He kissed all over her neck, slowly, licking and sucking till she was sure she would burst into flames if he didn’t stop.  He rolled over suddenly, taking her with him so she was sat astride him, straddling his hips. 

She rolled her hips against his and he was the one letting out a moan this time.  “Something you wanna tell me, Dean?” she grinned saucily down at him.

“You look really good, Baby.”  He winked at her, then suddenly turned serious.  “You look like you.  You scared me last night.”

Rose frowned, her fingers playing with his shirt buttons.  “I’m sorry.  I didn’t feel like me last night at all.”

“Hey no,” Dean said, grabbing her hands.  “No sorries.  I just…ok wait” and he reached up, grabbed Rose by the waist and pulled her down next to him.  “That position, while hot as hell” he grinned at her, “and definitely one we will come back to, is not conducive to conversation.”  Rose giggled and he smiled at her and placed a hand softly on her face.  “I don’t think I realized till last night just how much I take for granted that you’ll always be here.”  He looked her in the eye intently and Rose had the deep felt impression this statement was long thought over.  “You’re one of the only constants in my life, Rose.  You’ve always been there for me when I’ve needed you, hell, all the way back to when we were four years old.  Last night was scary, not just for me.  I know it had to be terrifying for you too.”  Rose nodded and Dean slid his hand down to her waist, pulling her against him.  “You’ve always been so good at taking care of me, with seemingly little effort, which I’m sure was on purpose, so I wouldn’t feel guilty for taking so much.” Rose shook her head but Dean continued.   “But whatever lies ahead, I’m asking, hell, I’m begging; let me be there for you.  I can’t fix all this.  I wish so much that I could.  But I’m good at being a support.  It’s one thing I am good at.  But you gotta let me.”

Rose smiled up at him, tears in her eyes.  He honestly had no idea how wonderful he was. “You’re good at so much, Dean, so much more than you ever give yourself credit for.  You think all this care taking has been one sided?  Silly, silly man.  I cook for my mom and sisters and countless other hunters.  Do you know how many ever make me feel appreciated, who ever sincerely compliment me on what I make?”   He shook his head and she leaned into him so her face was close to his.  “One, and he’s in my bed right now.” Dean’s eyed widened and Rose had the funny image of him yelling at everyone over taking her cooking for granted.  “I’m not a warrior and I’m not a bubbly ray of sunshine like Daisy.  My whole life I’ve figured I was supposed to take care of people and I was good with that.  But when you’re born into a family with a hunter and a prophecy, well, baking isn’t really a highly valued skill.”  Rose stroked Dean’s face.  “You’re the only person who ever made me feel like what I did mattered.”  She took a deep breath before saying.  “And now suddenly I’m not just Rosie who bakes cookies, am I?  Suddenly I’m important.”  She looked down and then glanced up at him shyly from under her lashes.  “But you _always_ made me feel important.  So please don’t ever think I was just selflessly taking care of you.  You’ve always taken care of me just as much.”

Dean looked at her in awe, realizing he didn’t even know the words to answer that.  He wasn’t sure they existed.  So Dean did what came naturally to him: He answered Rose with touch.  Gently, so gently he grasped her face, as if she was the most precious thing he had ever seen and softly, he brushed his lips against hers.  He held her lips with his and tried to put into the kiss all the emotions he was feeling that were just too powerful to name.  Rose responded by entwining her arms around him and kissing him back with just as much emotion, feeling whatever this was between them, grow and blossom and become even more than it had been before. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing this has been interesting experience. I've gone into every chapter with some idea of where it's going to go. Then I start and the next thing I know the characters are taking me down a very different path. The characters definitely have their own plan!


	12. Leave it to Me to be Holdin’ the Matches

All too soon, an insistent buzzing interrupted Dean and Rose.  With a groan Dean pulled back from Rose’s swollen lips, his hands stilling on her body.  Pulling his phone out of his pocket he read the text from Sam.

_I’m sure you two are having fun but if you wanna join us sometime today that would be great.  Everyone’s getting bored waiting for you._

Dean replied quickly, saying they would be down soon and adding a few extra comments on what Sam could do with his sarcasm.  With a sigh he slid his phone back into his pocket and stood up, looking at Rose. 

“I hate to say this but we need to get downstairs.”

Rose gave him an exaggerated pout.  “And just when things were getting interesting.  Thought I was gonna get to see if you lived up to your reputation.”  She winked at him.

Dean chucked and then ran a hand through his hair, looking slightly nervous.  “Trust me, I would love to stay up here all day, proving to you just how well founded my reputation is.  But we need to have a group discussion about what we’re gonna do.”

Rose sat up quickly, looking alarmed.  “Why?  What do you mean?  What’s going to happen?”  The panic was evident in her voice and suddenly with a loud **SLAM** the bathroom door swung shut, then open again and then **SLAM** shut again.  Sookie flew off her cat tree and hid under the bed.

Dean cursed inwardly, for springing that on her so suddenly.  It was obvious Rose was pretty fragile right now.  He should have known better.  He gripped her shoulders firmly.  “Rose look at me.”  Rose did and Dean could see how scared she was.  “I need you to calm down.”  **SLAM** Rose’s eyes flew to the door, her eyes filling with tears.  “Look at me, Rosie, just at me.”  **SLAM** Dean eased down next to her on the bed and her eyes found his again.  “Good girl.  Now I want you to focus on-“

There was a sudden pounding on the door and Lily’s voice on the other side asking if everything was all right.  It was followed by a rattling of the handle and Dean thanked his lucky stars he had thought to lock it behind him.  “We’re fine, Lily.” **SLAM** “We’ll be down in just a few minutes.”  There was no response but after a minute Lily’s feet were heard going back down the stairs.

Rose’s face was white as a sheet.  The door was still slamming and she seemed unable to stop it.  Dean could feel her heart rate picking up and knew she was close to a complete panic.  Dean leaned back against the headboard and pulled Rose so she was leaning back against him.   **SLAM** He leaned his head down so he was speaking close to her ear.  “Listen, listen to me.  Ignore the door, just focus on my voice.”  He wrapped his arms tightly around her and slid his hands up and down her arms, stroking slowly.   **SLAM** Distraction…he needed something to distract her.  “Did I ever tell you how much I loved all the texting we did this year?”  Without giving Rose a chance to respond he continued.  “There were a whole lot of times when those texts were the highlight of my day.  Hell, most of the time.  I’d have a crappy hunt or Sam would be annoying me and the one thing I would focus on would be your text.”  **SLAM** “I knew one would be coming in at some point and that would get me through.  Maybe it would be a funny one, you telling me some cute story from your day.”  **SLAM** He thought maybe that had sounded a little bit less forceful, so he continued. “Or maybe it would be you mentioning some new recipe you wanted to try out, wanting to know if I thought it sounded good.  And you know as long as it’s not grilled chicken or some salad I’m gonna be up for trying it.”  Rose wiggled in his arms a little, getting comfortable.  No slamming for a few seconds…that was a good sign. “Or it might be one of your flirty texts.  Those I had to try to read away from Sammy.”  Dean chuckled and hugged Rose from behind.  “Kinda hard for me to hide how those affected me, Baby.”  He kissed her hair and asked softly.  “We better?”

Rose nodded her head and looked down at her hands.  “I’m sorry.”

“Uh Uh.  What did I say?   No sorries.”  Dean grasped her chin and turned her head so she was looking at him.  “Don’t make me write your name down in my naughty book.”

“You have a naughty book?” Rose asked.

Dean kissed her forehead.  “For you, Rosie, I’ll get one.”  He smiled at her.  “You did good, Baby.”

Rose looked at him like he was crazy.  “Dean, I was slamming the door and couldn’t stop!”

Dean raised a finger.  “Not true.  You stopped.  You just needed something to focus on.  I have plenty of ideas when it comes to that.”  Dean turned her so she was sitting sideways, so he could still hold her but see her face.  He could tell from her look she was beating herself up.  “If our roles were reversed, if it was me trying to control this power, would you be upset with me for not knowing how right away?”

Rose shook her head slowly.  “No, of course not.”

Dean nodded smugly.  “OK then.  You have to give yourself the same amount of patience that you would give me.  This is going to take time, Baby.  That’s to be expected.  And I’ll be here, serving as a focal point, as a distraction or whatever else you need.  Got it?” 

Rose nodded.  “Got it.”  She smiled softly at him.  “You’re pretty awesome, you know that?”

Dean smirked at her.  “Course I do.”  He gave her one more hug then slowly eased her to a standing position.  “Now, time to get dressed.”  With a quick smack to her bottom he shooed her towards her closet.  “Go on, get some clothes on.  We’ll go downstairs and face the crazies together.”

Rose walked away, muttering something about the crazies being up here.  She grabbed clothes and headed for the bathroom.  Dean texted Sam once the bathroom door closed (By Rose’s hand this time).

_Small speed bump but we’ll be down in 10.  Rosie’s stressing pretty bad so let’s try to do this as calmly as we can.  Tell Bobby too._

Rose came out of the bathroom shortly after, dressed and looking worried.  Dean decided she needed something else to think about before heading downstairs.  So just as they got to the bedroom door he grabbed her hand and whirled her around so she was pressed up against it.  She looked surprised and started to squeak “Dean what-“

He interrupted her, pressing his hips up against hers and growling in a low voice “For the record, when I do finally get to prove to you just how much I exceed my reputation?  It won’t be anywhere we’ll have to worry about someone walking in on us or interrupting.  We’ll have all the time we need for me to touch, kiss and lick every square inch of your body.” His hands wrapped around her waist, sliding them up under her shirt so she could feel skin against skin.  His lips locked onto hers, kissing her hotly and deeply.  When he finally pulled his mouth from hers she was gasping for air.   He gave her a long, searing look.  “And I won’t stop till you’re screaming my name.” 


	13. I Wanna Be Somebody Else For a Little While

As Dean led Rose downstairs her mind was bouncing around like crazy.  On one hand a part of her brain kept flitting back to the image of the slamming door.  That was her, her mind doing that.  But just as she would start to feel overwhelmed, on the verge of panic, Dean’s words would float in, along with the images they had created to go along with them.   Like a sensual ribbon they wrapped around her, buffering her from the panic and making her feel tingly and warm.  Right now, getting lost in the haze of lust and desire that his words and lips had created was her anchor in the murky sea of her mind and she clung to it.

Instead of taking her straight to the living room, Dean steered Rose towards the kitchen, with a hand on the small of her back.  “When was the last time you ate?” he asked, motioning her towards a seat at the counter.

Rose had to think about that for a minute, as she sat down.  "Um, lunch time yesterday, I guess.”

“Ya, we gotta fix that” Dean said.  “I’m getting Rose something to eat, then we’ll be in” he called out to the group in the living room.  He started pulling out sandwich supplies and set about making her one.  He looked up from what he was doing and smiled at her slightly dazed expression.  Never let it be said he couldn’t work magic with words.  In his opinions keeping her from going into panic mode was as much about taking care of her as feeding her and he was proud he could do it so well.  He finished the sandwich, complete with potato chips on the side, and slid it over to her before heading to the fridge to get her a drink.  When he brought it to her, he leaned down and spoke softly, for her ears only.  “Now that’s a good look on you, Rosie.  Big eyes, flushed cheeks, lips swollen from my kisses.”  He traced a finger over the aforementioned lips and smiled evilly.  “Bet your mind is just replaying over and over what I said to you upstairs.  Imagining just what I would do to you, how it would feel.” He winked at her.  “A good imagination is hot.” 

Rose laughed, the noise sounding somewhat strangled to her own ears, as she tried to get her pulse to stop racing.  

Dean put away the sandwich making supplies and Rose finished off her sandwich and chips.  Then Dean walked over, took her hand and lead her into the living room, with one more devilish wink.   

* * *

A few hours later and dusk was setting in as Sam was loading the last of Daisy’s and Lily’s bags into Lily’s car.  He slammed the trunk shut just as Dean came out, carrying some of Rose’s bags.

“They almost done in there?” Sam asked, coming over to help Dean load the bags into the trunk of the Impala. 

Dean nodded.  “They’re getting there.  Erin’s still fussing over what all to take from the basement and Daisy had a mini meltdown over being told she didn’t need to bring her entire wardrobe with her.

Sam chuckled.  “Some things never change.”

“Ya, but some things do, Sammy.  This sucks for Rose and Lily.  They’ve never been apart.”  Dean ran his hand through his hair.  “I hate doing this to them.”

 “I know” Sam said, with a nod of his head.   “And I figure once Daisy and Erin are settled in at Bobby’s and Rose is more grounded in her powers, maybe Lily can come stay at the bunker for awhile, make it easier on Rose.”

Dean grinned, suddenly.  “You’re such a selfless guy there, Sammy, thinking of Rose in her time of need.  Sure it has nothing to do with getting your little girlfriend moved in with us.”

Sam laughed.  “Oh ya, you’re one to talk!  Is Rose getting her own room or is she gonna be staying in yours?”

Dean flipped him off good naturedly, and then turned serious.  “She did ok in there though, didn’t she?  I mean, I know she was upset about going away but she calmed down pretty quick.”  Once Bobby had laid out their proposed plan-that Erin, Daisy and Lily were going to go to his place for awhile and Rose would be going with the boys to the bunker- things got tense.  Lily and Rose were both upset and at one point the chair Bobby had been sitting in had started to rise from the ground.  Dean quickly pulled Rose onto his lap, told her to close her eyes and started whispering in her ear, getting her to focus and calm down.  There were a few doors slamming throughout the house but she regained her composure much quicker than before.  After just a minute Rose slowly opened her eyes and told Bobby how sorry she was, as his chair slowly lowered back to the ground.  Despite looking shaken at being suddenly lifted into the air Bobby told her not to worry, he was just fine.

Sam nodded.  “You did really good with her too, Dean.  She trusts you and you guys get each other.”  He looked at Dean curiously.  “What’d you say to get her to calm down so quickly?”

Dean grinned slyly.  “Oh no, little brother, that’s for her ears only.”   Sam rolled his eyes, not surprised by Dean’s response.  Dean added a second later.  “I’m just really hoping we can find something else out in all the books back at the bunker.  Maybe get a handle on this and what’s coming.”

“Definitely.  Her powers definitely seem to be getting stronger.  Last night it was teddy bears and today it’s doors and a chair with a full grow man in it?”  Sam shook his head.  “That’s some learning curve.”

“Oh now that’s interesting to hear” a voice purred from behind them.  Turning around a man and woman stood between the two cars.  “Do keep talking boys, always nice to get details.”

“Who the hell are you?” Sam asked and the female quickly flashed black eyes, answering that question.

“We’re friends of Marks, co-workers really.  We knew he was coming here, looking into the sisters who live here.”  She looked up at the house, a look of revulsion crossing her face.  “How he stood all that time with them, disgusting.”  She shuddered.  She started strolling towards them slowly, the male demon walking behind her.  “When Mark didn’t come back we figured it was worth our time to come over and have a look see.  Looks like we made the right call. ”   She paused, trailing her hand over the door of Lily’s car.  “Hard to believe that Mark found the girl with the indescribable powers.”  She smiled in what she assumed was a sweet way.  “Why don’t you just hand her over to us now and we’ll be on our way?  No need for anyone else to get hurt.”

“The fuck we will” Dean growled, lunging at her, Ruby’s knife in his hand.  She moved quickly, swerving aside so that the blade plunged into the male demon instead.  He lit up with an orange light and then dropped to the ground, dead.   Dean whipped back around to see the demon grabbing for Sam.  Sam was quick enough to duck and Dean was able to plunge the knife through the demon’s throat, killing her as well.  Sam and Dean just stood and stared for a minute, surprised it had all happened so quickly.  Then with a look they took off for the house.   They needed to get out of here.

* * *

Not long after Rose was in the backseat of the Impala, watching her house as they drove away.  Bobby and the rest of her family were following in Lily’s car, to meet up at the bunker so Bobby could get his truck.  From there they would backtrack to Bobby’s and Rose would stay with the boys.  At least that meant Rose hadn’t had to say goodbye to them all just yet.

Rose turned with a sigh and gave Sookie’s carrier a gentle pat.  Sookie was curled up inside, not overly happy at being taken from her comfortable kingdom but there was no way Rose was going anywhere without her.  Once the proposed plan had been laid out and everyone had begrudgingly agreed to it things had moved quickly.  Phone calls had been made, (Rose had hated to call her boss Maggie and explain that due to a family emergency she wouldn’t be into the flower shop for awhile.  Maggie was an awesome boss.  She got a great kick out of the fact that she had an employee named Rose at her flower shop.  She was sorry to hear about the emergency that would keep Rose away but promised her job would be waiting for her.) appointments had to be changed, (Rose had to call and cancel a hair appointment.  That seemed to confuse Dean.  “But your hairs long, why do you get it cut?”) and lots of packing had taken place.  Then on top of that Sam and Dean had burst through the front doors saying two demons had been there and they needed to go now.  They had been ready to kill Daisy for taking so long and in the end, Dean had picked her up and placed her in the car, threatening her with dire consequences if she got out again.  Rose did not envy Bobby that ride.

She caught Dean looking back at her in the mirror.  He gave her an encouraging smile and she did her best to return it.  “You’re sure the demons didn’t hurt you guys?” she asked nervously.

“Ha!  No way!”  Dean proclaimed brashly.  “We were way too quick for them.  We’ve seen a lot worse, Baby.  Don’t worry about it.”

Rose chose not to think about what could be worse.  If they had worked with Mark they must be similar to him and being held by Mark like she had been, was the scariest thing that had ever happened to her. “I would feel so bad if you guys got hurt because of me.”

Sam turned sideways so he could look at her.  “Rose, we’re hunters.  We face demons a lot and getting hurt, well that just comes with the job.”  He gave her his patented Sammy grin.  “But protecting you Sullivan girls, well that’s an honor.”

Rose blushed and smiled at Sam.  “Aw, Sammy, that’s sweet.  Thank you.”

Dean glared at Sam.  “Hey Dude, stop flirting with my girl!”

Rose blinked quickly.  His girl?

Sam glared back at his brother.  “I wasn’t flirting, Dean, just being honest and nice.  You might wanna try it sometime.”

Dean glared back, then caught a glimpse of Rose in the mirror.  She was blushing even more now and had a soft smile on her face as well.  It took him a minute to figure out why, then realized what he had called her.  _His Girl_. He was certain he had never called her that to her face before.  She had been looking so sad just a minute ago, seeing that smile on her face now was priceless.  And honestly, that’s who she was, His Girl.  If putting that out there for everyone to hear brought that smile to her face then he’d just have to say it more often.


	14. Out Here It’s Like I'm Someone Else

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Road trip time!

Daisy texted Rose before they could reach the Hastings city limits.

_Lily needs to make a stop at Stop ‘N Shop and wants you guys to stop too._

Dean" Rose said, looking up.  "Lily needs to stop at Stop ‘N Shop and wants us to stop too."

"Already?  Geez, we haven't even left town yet." Despite his grumbling Dean pulled into the parking lot.  They all watched as Lily got out of her car, leaned into say something to the others and headed their way.

Sam rolled his window down but she didn't even stop.  Just opened the back door of the Impala, pushed Sookie's carrier over and slid in behind Sam.  "No way am I riding an hour with Daisy bitching the whole way" Lily said. They watched as Bobby got out and slid into the driver’s seat.  "And you," Lily nodded toward Dean, "Are a bully in Daisy's opinion.  We had to hear that since we left the house.  And you hurt her when you threw her in the car, she’s sure she has bruises and that was very traumatic."  Lily rolled her eyes. "Mom gave birth to her, she's stuck with her.  Unless I get to put duct tape on her mouth I can’t do it."

With a laugh Dean pulled out of the parking lot and they were on their way once again.

Rose smiled at her older sister, happy to have her in the car.  "Seriously, Rosie was I ever that dramatic?" Lily asked. 

"In the history of the world, no one has ever been that dramatic, except Daisy" Rose laughed.

"You all are more fun to ride with anyway" Lily said, reaching up to pull a lock of Sam's hair.  He turned and gave her a mock growl, snapping at her fingers, which got him a giggle in return.  "Mom's fretting, Daisy's whining.  If Bobby makes it to Kansas without throwing Daisy out of the car he deserves sainthood."

"Aw yes, Saint Bobby" Sam drawled.  "That has a certain ring to it."

"She's definitely been whinier than normal" Rose said, thoughtfully.  "I think it's how she's dealing with all the upheaval."

"Ya, well she needs to find a different way or I may kill her" Lily said.

Rose stroked her arm.  "Poor Lily.  I'm sorry you're stuck with her brattiness."

"Eh, it's ok." Lily leaned her head against her sisters.  "I put up with you all these years."

Rose giggled.  "Yep, and I'm horrible."  Both sisters laughed at their inside joke.

Sam looked at Dean.  "Do we do that?"

Dean raised an eyebrow.  "What, cuddle?  Only on Tuesday's."

Sam rolled his eyes as the girls giggled again, this time at Dean.  "No, talk in a secret code that only we understand."

"Oh you totally do," Lily offered.

"We do?" Dean asked, surprised.

"Sure" Rose said.  "And you do the looks too, where you know what the others thinking without saying anything."

"That's true" Sam said thoughtfully.

"Huh.  Guess I never thought about it" Dean said.

"In fact I would say you two probably know each other almost as well as me and Rosie" Lily said.

"Almost?" Sam said, raising an eyebrow "Is that a challenge?"

Lily raised an eyebrow in return.  "Do you want it to be?"

Rose thought how typically Sam and Lily this was.  They pushed each other, challenged each other at every turn.  They were both so competitive and seemed to bring it out in each other even more and both seemed to enjoy it.  Rose supposed it was their brand of flirting.

"Why not?" Sam said.  "It'll pass the time."

"How's this gonna work" Rose asked, cautiously.

"We come up with a question that your sister should know about you.  She answers and you have to answer honestly if she's right or not."  Sam said, making this up as he went.

"Then you two have to answer the same questions." Lily said.

Sam looked at Dean who nodded.  "Fair enough" Sam said.

"We are gonna crush you guys!" Lily declared, while Rose just wondered what she had gotten herself into.

"Ok let's start off easy" Sam said.  "What's her daily drink of choice, the one she has to have?"

Lily rolled her eyes at Sam.  "Too easy.  Sweet tea.  Rosie drinks it by the gallon."

Rose nodded.  "True, I do.  And Lily's is coffee, black with two sugars."

"Correct!  Your turn" Lily said happily.

"Black coffee" Sam answered quickly.

"Ditto" Dean said.

"So I'm the only one who doesn't like black coffee?" Rose asked.

"Or any coffee" Lily offered.

"I do too!" Rose said indignantly.

"Those things you drink aren't really coffee, Rosie" Lily said.  "They're chocolate and caramel and...gooey."  She wrinkled her nose in disgust.

"They sell them at Starbucks so they are definitely coffee." Rose countered.  "I love Starbucks" she said wistfully.

"A word of warning to you guys" Lily said to the guys.  "Don't take Rosie to Starbucks.  You'll never get her out.  She'll find a comfy chair, curl up there with her book and move in.  Before you know it she'll be friends with the baristas and they'll all know her order.  And if she isn't reading she'll be sat there, watching all the people and going off on a monologue about how Starbucks is the modern day equivalent of a town square." 

Rosie poked her sister in the side while the boys laughed. 

"Sounds like Sammy in a book store" Dean commented.  "I can never get him out of those."

"Oh book stores are awesome!" Rose enthused.

"Thank you" Sam said, nodding his head her way.  "Finally someone with some taste."  He gave Dean a superior look. 

"I like the big ones with their own Starbucks inside" Rose said "and the little hole in the wall ones too.  You can find some great treasure in those."

"There's a really old one not too far from the bunker.  This nice older lady runs it" Sam said, turning to smile at Rose enthusiastically.  "I'll take you there.  And there's a Starbucks down the street from it too."

Lily raised her hands in surrender.  “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

"Oh that would be super, Sam!" Rose said enthusiastically, ignoring her sister.  Dean smiled at her in the mirror, pleased to hear her sound happy.  He forgot how much fun the four of them had together.  He hoped Lily did come and stay at the bunker later.  It would be fun and good for Sam too he thought, watching the way Sammy's face lit up when he was verbally sparring with her. 

"My turn" Lily called out, wanting to get off the subject of bookstores and Starbucks. "Who was your brothers first kiss?"

"Oh that's an easy one," Sam crowed.  "Sarah Jackson."  He looked at Dean and frowned seeing him looking uncomfortable.  "Dean?"

"Um, ya actually it wasn't.  She was my second.  Robin was my first kiss."

"Robin?" Sam started to question then it dawned on him.  "Oh, in Hurleyville?"  Dean nodded and Sam turned to smile sheepishly at Lily.  "OK strike one."  Lily laughed happily and turned to look at Dean.

"Amy Pond" Dean said, flatly.

Sam nodded, not adding any details and turned to look at the girls.

"Brian Jamison" Rose piped up quickly, sensing uneasiness between the brothers and wanting to get past it quickly.

"Bingo" Lily said.  "He wasn't a bad kisser for a kid.  And Rosie's was um, oh God what was his name?  He moved here from California...I can picture him...Jack Harper!" She smiled, happy she remembered the name.

Rose nodded.  "He was nice.  Not a great kisser.  Too much tongue" she clarified when Dean raised an eyebrow questionably.  "His whole goal seemed to be to fit his entire tongue into my mouth.  Not pleasant."  Dean grinned from the front seat.

"You go next, Rosie" Dean suggested, wanting a second to think of his question.  He wanted one he and Sam would get right but more importantly one that would give him details on Rose.  There were never enough of those, in his opinion.  He knew so much about her but the little day to day things were fun to learn.

Rose thought for a second, then asked.  "On a night out what's your brothers drink of choice?"

"On a good night or a bad night?" Sam asked.

"Good night" Rose clarified.

"Beer" Sam said.

Dean nodded in agreement and said "Same," causing Lily to roll her eyes and say "Typical and boring.  Rose likes Vodka or more specifically Cosmopolitans."  Dean let out a chuckle and Sam grinned. 

Rose blushed.  "I'm not much of a drinker" she admitted.

"She's a total lightweight" Lily said "One drink and she’s buzzing, two drinks and she’s tipsy.  So there's a tip for you" she said, nodding to Dean.

Dean let out a snort.  "Any guy who needs alcohol to get a girl is pathetic."

Rose smiled at that and said "Tequila...because…Tequila makes her clothes fall off” she sang, to the boys amusement, while Lily buried her head in her hands.

"Ok there's a story here, right?" Sam asked.  "My God, Lily are you blushing?" 

Lily was in fact beet red.  "Shut up" she mumbled from behind her hands.

"Oh there's a story, all right" Rose said cheerfully.  "The best bachelorette party story I know."  She glanced at Lily who gave a slight nod of her head.  "So there's a bar in Lincoln with dancing bartenders, kinda like, have you all seen Coyote Wild?" Sam shook his head while Dean nodded, looking sheepish.  At Sam's disgusted look Dean replied "What?  There are hot chicks in that movie." 

Rose continued.  "Well ok, it's like that.  So for our friend Mari's bachelorette party we all headed there. Sometimes they let customers up on the bar to dance too.  Well we're all drinking, having a good time and some of us were having a better time than others."  She laughed, looking at her sisters’ bright red face.  "When they asked for girls to get up on the bar Lily was the first to volunteer.  But um, she took the song a little too literally.  They played that song" she said, referring to the one she had sung before "and Lily actually started to do a strip tease."

"No way!" Sam said, a look of pure delight on his face. 

"Oh yes!" Rose said.  "Her shirt comes off, the place is going nuts and she's starting to take off her skirt."  She laughed.  "By the time we managed to pry her down from the bar she was in a lovely, lacy red bra and panty set and red cowboy boots."  She shook her head.  “It took us forever to get her back into her clothes.”

Everyone was laughing now and finally Lily joined in.  “I’m never gonna live that story down.”

“See, I may be a lightweight but at least I don’t dance on bars and show off my lingerie to strangers” Rose said with a grin at her sister, who elbowed her.

“Well that’s a damn shame” Dean muttered, which brought about more laughter. 

“We definitely need to play this game with alcohol next time” Sam declared and Dean nodded enthusiastically, making both girls laugh.

“Your turn, Dean” Lily said.  “And remember, we’re still winning.  You all have one strike.  Three strikes and you’re out.”

“Who was your sisters’ first crush?” Dean asked, looking into the mirror at Rose.

“The bag boy at the grocery store, right?” Rose said, looking at Lily who nodded.  “Parker, that was his name.  He had long hair, I remember that.  You were what, 10?”

“Ya, I think so” Lily said.  “I thought he was so cool.  He was in high school and not surprisingly, not interested in a 10 year old.”

“Thankfully” Rose giggled, petting Sookie’s paws through the wire mesh door of her crate.

“Yours was Mr. Miller,” Lily said triumphantly. 

“Mr. Miller?” Dean echoed.

Lily nodded.  “He was her 4th grade English teacher.  She would come home every day and tell me how wonderful he was.  She was devastated when she found out there was a Mrs. Miller.”

“He wore the nicest suits” Rose said, dreamily and Lily laughed.  “That’s where your suit fetish comes from” she said, making Dean perk up and take notice and causing Rose to blush.

“It’s not a fetish.  I just happen to think men look good in a nice suit” Rose said, defensively.

“It’s why you like bossy men too” Lily said, with a meaningful look at Dean.

“Oh geez, Sam can you answer please before I kill my sister?” Rose said.

Sam laughed and said “Hmmm, ok I’m not totally sure on this one, to be honest,”

“Well I can answer first if you want” Dean offered.  “This one is easy for me.”  Sam motioned for his brother to go ahead.  “Cassidy” Dean said and Sam took a deep breath and let it out on a sigh.  Dean grinned.  “I think that’s a yes if I ever heard one.”

“Who’s Cassidy?” Lily asked, looking interested and maybe just a teensy bit jealous.

“She was a hunter who worked with my Dad on a few cases.  Young, in her 20’s and pretty too.  She just loved little Sammy.”  Dean grinned at his brother and Sam grinned back.

“Ya, she was hot” Sam confirmed.  “OK, I don’t know her name but if I describe her that counts, right?”  Lily and Rose nodded, agreeing.  “We were in Iowa, I don’t remember the name of the town either.  You were 12 and there was this one librarian you kept mentioning.  She wore really short skirts.”  He looked at Dean to see if this rang a bell.

“Ms. Winters” Dean breathed, a goofy smile on his face.  “And the city was Cedar Falls and oh ya, she was this hot, like out of a Van Halen video hot, librarian.  The short pencil skirts, glasses, always really friendly.”  He grinned at Sam.  “Well done, Sammy!”

The questions flew back and forth, with the girls finally getting one wrong when Rose got the question about the first time Lily got drunk incorrect.  (“You got drunk at our house when you were 13?  Why didn’t I know this?”  “Because Dad was super pissed and I was just glad he let me survive!”)  Which meant by the time they pulled into Lebanon they were tied. 

“So looks like we’ll have to finish this game later” Sam said, as they pulled up in front of the bunker entrance. 

“You can count on it” Lily said.  She was still confident they would win.

This had been a nice diversion, Rose thought.  For the hour it took to get here it had been like old times.  It had been wonderful to laugh and tease and just be, with no worries of powers or what was around the corner.   But now, they were here and the corner was in her face, too big to ignore. 


	15. It’s Easy Getting Messed Up On the Truth

"Smoking? Isn't that just a little too stereotypical tough chick for you?" Dean asked, walking out the bunker doors.

Lily grimaced at being caught, and quickly put the cigarette out. "Damn it. I hardly ever do it, once a month maybe, I swear.  Don't tell Sam, OK? He'll bitch me out."

Dean raised his hands, noting to himself that Lily actually cared what Sam thought. That was good to know. "Hey, it's your nasty habit. Tell Sam, don't tell Sam, that's up to you." He offered her one of two beers he'd brought out with him.

With a nod of thanks Lily accepted a beer, leaning back against the trunk of her car, not quite sure she trusted Dean not to say anything but it was too late now anyway.

Once they had arrived at the bunker they had made a quick dinner of frozen pizzas they had in the freezer and found everyone a place to sleep for the night.  The drive back to Bobby’s would take long enough that it made sense for them all to sleep at the bunker tonight and then start fresh in the morning.  Bobby and the girls’ mom had both already headed to bed but as far as Lily knew her sisters were still awake. 

"All the kiddies settled in?" Lily asked, taking a sip of her beer.

Dean snorted. "Daisy wrangled Sam into giving her a complete tour of the place."

Lily laughed. "Ya, he's too nice. She does the puppy dog eyes and he folds." She shook her head. "You think he would be immune to that look, since he does it too."

Dean chuckled and joined Lily leaning against the car. "Ya, that look came in handy when we were kids. Got us out of some jams."

"I bet." Lily was looking at Dean appraisingly and Dean had a feeling he knew what was coming and braced himself. Lily did not disappoint. "So I'm leaving Rosie here with you, you damn well better take care of her."

Dean nodded. "Of course.  Sam and I both will."

"I'm not just talking all this power, demon, badness crap" Lily waved with her hands to indicate the goings on. Then she narrowed her eyes at Dean. "I mean between you two, whatever it is, don't hurt her. If you're just looking for a quick girl to fuck my sister is not the one."

Dean winced.  "Damn Lily, you really don't do subtle do you?" Dean said, taking a sip of his beer.

She shrugged. "Subtlety is for people who don't have the balls to say what they really mean. I've never had that problem."

"Obviously not" Dean muttered.  “Don’t worry, I’m not gonna hurt your sister, ok?” Lily nodded and Dean asked “So should we have a chat about you and Sammy then?"

Lily raised an eyebrow. "What about us?"

"Just wanna be sure he's not gonna get hurt either."

"He’s not.  And your brothers a big boy, Dean."

"And yet younger than your sister, who you're so big on protecting" Dean pointed out.

"Good Point” Lily said with a grin. “Touché.”

“So now that we’ve done our duty as older siblings and threatened each other, are we good?” Dean asked.

Lily thought for a second.  “Ya, we’re good.”  Lily took another sip then said, “So just a little tip, Rose gets stuck in her own head sometimes.  She worries and she won’t just talk about what’s bothering her unless you bug her.  Usually that’s my job but since I’ll be off trying to keep the rest of my family sane...” Dean chuckled and Lily rolled her eyes, “As if that’s even possible.  The whole lot is loony.  When you consider that Rose and I are the sane ones, God, what does that say?” She shook her head.  “Anyway, so ya, you gotta be on Rosie watch.”  She grinned wickedly at Dean.  “Which I figure you should be pretty good at, since you spend so much time looking at her anyway.”  Dean took a sudden intense interest in peeling the label off his beer bottle while Lily chuckled.  “Dean Winchester, are you blushing?”

“Course not!” Dean said gruffly, feeling his cheeks burn.

Lily laughed happily.  “I didn’t know it was possible!  I gotta get a picture!” and she went to grab her phone from her pocket.

“Try it and I’ll break the damn thing” Dean growled and Lily stopped, though her laughter didn’t.  Finally her laughter died down and she smiled at Dean.

“It’s nice to see, actually.” Dean looked at her sharply, surprised to hear the soft tone in her voice.  “I know how important you are to Rose.  It would suck if you weren’t as invested as she is.”

Dean snorted.  “Ya, that’s definitely not a problem.”

“So Bobby said you had tons of research books here?”  Dean nodded.  “He seems to think you will be able to find out some more about the prophecy, especially about Rose’s part.”

“There are years and years of data and books.  I figure if there’s anything to be found it will be here.  Plus, your boyfriend’s pretty good at the whole research gig.” Dean smirked at Lily. 

“Ya, your girlfriends no slouch in that department either,” Lily shot back, causing Dean to laugh. “Bobby said something about you guys maybe having somebody that might know something about Rose too?  Someone who might be able to, I don’t know, see all her powers or something?”

“Ya, um, has Sam mentioned Cas to you at all?”

“I’ve heard the name” Lily said with a shrug.  “Not much else.”

“OK well, brace yourself then, cause this may sound a bit crazy-“

“As of a day ago my sister can control demons and move things with her mind.  Crazy is kind of normal at this point.”

Dean nodded.  “Fair enough.  Well, Cas is an angel.” He stopped for a second, as Lily’s jaw dropped, gave her a minute to take it in and then continued.  “And we’re hoping he may be able to help.”

* * *

After that bombshell Lily decided it was time to call it a night.  After checking the main room of the bunker and not seeing any trace of Sam and Daisy she headed towards the room Dean had set Rose up in. 

Lily pulled her phone out and texted Sam.

_Still stuck with Daisy?_

_Ya, but we’re almost done. Your sister can talk!_

Lily laughed.  Daisy definitely had the gift of gab.

_Heading to Rosie’s room.  Need some sister time.  Catch up later?_

_Sounds good.  I want some time with you before you leave._

_K, I’ll text you._

Lily smiled and slipped her phone back in her pocket.  Alone time with Sam was something to look forward to.

Lily counted doors, remembering Rose’s door was the fifth one down.  She knocked then stuck her head in, seeing her sister setting on the bed and walked in, shutting the door behind her.  It wasn’t a bad room actually. Dean had said it was one of the larger ones; a nice little bedroom with an attached bathroom (with a bathtub, that Dean had happily pointed out to Rose) and a small attached sitting room.  That room had a desk in it and Rose had set up all of Sookie’s things in there.   “What ya doing?” Lily asked, walking to the bed and sitting down.  Rose had obviously taken a shower as her hair was wet and changed into her pajamas.  (This time a cute matching short PJ set in pink. Assorted cats dotted the shorts and a single black cat posed on the top, with the phrase "I'm the cats meow" emblazoned across it.). Sookie was curled up on the plush arm chair in the corner, looking suspiciously at her new surroundings.

Rose shrugged.  “Nothing, just getting ready to go to bed, I guess.  Where have you been?”  She smiled teasingly.  “With Sam?”

“Nope, I was with the Winchester brother of _your_ choice.  Had to make sure he was gonna watch out for you.”

Rose groaned.  “God, Lily, that’s embarrassing.”

“Ya well, I’m you’re big sister.  Embarrassing you is my job.”

“And one you do so well.”  Rose stuck her tongue out at her sister and Lily returned the action.  Then they both laughed at each other.

Sobering, Lily asked “Seriously, are you going to be ok here?”

Rose nodded, slowly.  “I think so.  And I don’t really have a choice do I?”

“You always have a choice, Rosie.  If you hate it we’ll come up with another plan.”

“Ya, but here I’m not putting anyone in danger.  Dean said there are all kinds of wards and things so no one can figure out I’m here.”

“Yep, and that’s great.  But if you’re miserable we’ll figure out something else ok?”  Lily smoothed her sisters’ hair back.  “You’re not trapped here.”  She smiled then.  “Though let’s be honest, being stuck with Dean isn’t exactly a hardship for you.”  That got her a smile.

“I’ll be ok, Lily.  Really.  And maybe you can come back after awhile and stay for a bit.”

Lily nodded.  “Let me get Mom and Daisy settled and assuming the guys are ok with it, I’ll be back to stay for sure.”

“Oh right, yes, we’ll have to just bend Sam’s arm to get him to agree to you staying here.”  Rose rolled her eyes at her sister.

“Eh, it’s ok if we do.  He’s really bendy” and Lily winked.

“Ya ok, I don’t need details like that” Rose said and Lily laughed.  “Go see Sam.  I know you want to.”

“You sure?” Lily asked, pulling her phone out and texting him.  Rose nodded and Lily leaned over to hug her.  “I’ll be back later.  I’m sleeping in here tonight.” 

Rose hugged her back.  “OK, I’ll be here.”  She smiled, knowing the chances of seeing her sister again that night were slim to none.  Despite Lily’s intentions Rose was fairly certain she wouldn’t be returning to her bed.

Lily looked down at her phone as Sam texted her back and walked to the door, then stopped and smiled at Rose.  “Just make sure there’s no boy in here when I get back.”  And with Rose’s laughter ringing in her ears she left the room to meet Sam.

* * *

Dean watched Sam and Lily walk off together, unable to resist from calling after them "Be gentle with him, Lily. He's young and impressionable." Sam cheerfully flipped him off and Dean just laughed before heading down the hallway to Rose's new room.

He knocked on her door and she called out that the door was open.

"Hey Princess" he said, walking in.

Rose smiled at him. "Dean, you do realize I haven't dressed up as a princess since I was 8, right?"

"Why not?" Dean asked, wandering around the room. "People do cosplay. They sell costumes or you can make your own. And Princess Rose has a nice ring to it. Sounds very Disney."  Dean paused by the chair Sookie was on and petted her, earning a purr in return.  He glanced up to catch Rose looking at him like he'd grown two heads. "What?"

"How do you know what cosplay is?" Rose asked in amazement.

"I can't know things?" Dean asked defensively.

"Of course you can" Rose assured him "And you do. I just don't think I ever expected the word cosplay to come out of your mouth."

"Charlie told me about it" Dean admitted with a sheepish grin.

"Oh I wanna meet her" Rose said. "She sounds fun."

"I’m sure you will at some point.  Though I don’t know, two redheads together...that could lead to disaster" Dean groaned.

"Hey, us redheads are awesome" Rose declared.

"Oh no doubt, I just think the two of you together might be a little overwhelming" Dean said with a grin.

"So what you're saying is you aren't man enough to handle two redheads?" Rose asked, with a teasing grin.

"Well, considering Charlie’s into women, I'm not sure how she'd feel about me handling her at all." Dean laughed.

"Well don’t you have some fantasy about watching two red heads together..." Rose stopped at the look on Dean's face. "I'm kidding, Dean."

"Wow, you really are working on the naughty thing, huh?" Dean looked impressed, despite himself.

"Hey, not only can I make things move with my mind, I can shock Dean Winchester." Rose spread her hands. "My powers know no bounds."

"Speaking of powers, we doing ok?" Dean asked, figuring it was a good sign that she was joking about her powers. "Any um, floating of things or anything?"  He walked over to the bed and took a seat near her.

"Nope, I think the drive here with you all really relaxed me."

"Ya," Dean acknowledged. "That was fun."

"So, Lily said she, uh, talked to you. Can I just say how sorry I am?" Rose said nervously.

"Sorry, why? You say that word way too much.” Dean gave her a look that made her wonder just how much she did say it.  “She's your big sister. It's her job to look out for you. I was expecting it and I would have been shocked if she hadn't said anything." He paused and added. "And disappointed in her too."

“OK I don’t get it.  I don’t feel the need to go talk to Sam about Lily and him.”  She paused, reconsidering. “Well ok, maybe I do but that’s just ‘cause I’m nosy, not because I feel the need to threaten him to be good to her.”

“Well aside from the fact that Lily could probably eat Sammy alive if she wanted to, you’re not Lily’s older sister.  It’s different.”

“I guess” Rose acknowledged.  “You’re wrong about Sam though."

“Oh ya?” Dean asked, moving his hand to Rose’s leg.

“I know my sister well enough, if she could eat Sam alive she wouldn’t be with him.  My sister doesn’t like a guy she can push around.”

“Hmm, good point.” Dean said, stroking Rose’s knee.  “Can we stop talking about my little brother and your big sister now though?”

“Would you like to talk about cosplay some more?  Guys can dress up too, ya know.  I bet you’d look great in a prince-“

Dean’s lips cut her off before she could expound further on how hot she thought he would look in tights.  When Rose was in a mood like this, laughing and teasing, she beamed.  She shone so bright that all Dean wanted was to be close to her, to bask in the warmth and brightness she exuded.  The fact that he brought this out in her, that she never shown as bright around anyone else, eluded him.  After an all too brief kiss in Rose’s opinion Dean pulled back and smiled at her.

“I think we’ve covered cosplay.  But if you want a roommate for the night we can talk about anything else you want.”

“Oh, but Dean, Lily will be back soon” Rose said, with a teasing smile.

“Right now, my baby brother is probably doing all sorts of wicked things-” Dean cut himself off.  “OK, no let’s not think about that” and Rose laughed at him.  “Anyway, no, Lily isn’t coming back here tonight and you know it.  So what do you say, should we have a sleepover?”

Rose looked serious for a second.  “Will you laugh at me if I sleep with the bathroom light on?”

“That’s the only logical thing to do.  This room is dark.”

“I may steal the covers.”

“I’m hot enough I don’t need a blanket.” That earned him an eyeroll and he quickly said “If you do, I’ll just steal them back.”

“Will you tease me if I tell you I still sleep with a teddy bear?”

“Jellybean?” Dean asked and Rose’s face lit up.  “You remember?”

“Of course I do.  Is he still bright, bright orange?”

“Well he’s faded to a softer, lighter orange now.”  Rose jumped up and ran to the closet and brought back a scruffy looking orange bear.  Her father had gotten it for her when she was very young, so young she couldn’t remember a time she hadn’t had him.  She’d named him Jellybean after her favorite orange candies.  She handed him to Dean now, who looked him over with an appraising eye.

“He looks pretty good for his age” Dean said.  “And no, I won’t tease you about Jellybean.”  Then he grinned.  “Anything else is fair game though.”

 “That means you pass all the sleepover requirements, Mr. Winchester” Rose told him with a smile.  Then she frowned.  “Though I’m fairly certain I can’t braid your hair.”

“Thank God for small favors” Dean muttered.  He stood then and hugged Rose.  “Let me go get changed and I’ll be back.”  He placed a kiss on her forehead before walking out.

Rose got under the covers once Dean had left and looked at Sookie on her perch on the chair.  “We’ll be ok here, Sookie, I think.  We’ve got each other and Sam and most importantly we’ve got Dean.”  She smiled as she closed her eyes, waiting for Dean to come to bed.


	16. You Don't Want to Be Standin' There

Rose woke the next morning to find a pair of intense green eyes staring at her.

"Hey" Dean said softly, brushing her hair out of her face.  "Did you sleep ok?"

"Mmm hmm" Rose said, stretching.  "Thanks for talking to me so late last night.  It took me awhile to wind down."  She smiled sleepily at Dean.  "You're a good slumber party guest. You'll definitely be invited back."

"That" Dean said, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her to him "is very good to hear."  He brought his lips down on hers in a sweet, soft kiss with a touch of heat lurking underneath.

Rose didn't know it then but that was to be the best part of her day.

* * *

Dean left Rose’s room to get changed and get breakfast ready.  Rose planned on helping out with the cooking while she was here but if Dean wanted to handle breakfast that was fine by her.  She wasn’t much of a morning person.

By the time Rose got changed and came out into the main room of the bunker just about everyone else was there.  Dean smiled at her from the kitchen doorway and watched Lily, who was wearing the same outfit she had on last night, quickly pull Rose aside.

He watched as Lily said something to Rose that made her tense up, then watched as Lily went back toward Rose's room. The expression on Rose's face was a far cry from the happy one she had been wearing just a short while ago.  What the hell was going on?

Dean was just about to go to her when Daisy asked him for some syrup for the pancakes.  He got distracted getting some for her from a cupboard and by the time he walked back to look out into the dining room Rose was nowhere to be seen.

"Where did Rose go?" Dean asked Bobby.

Bobby's face told him a lot more than his words did.  "Erin wanted to talk to her before we left. I think she went back down to her room."

"Oh great" Dean muttered. "If she upsets Rose I'm gonna fucking kill her."

"Let's hope Erin doesn't screw this up" Sam said, in a rarely blunt moment.  Dean figured Lily must be rubbing off on him.

Speaking of which, Lily appeared a minute later, in fresh clothes and looking concerned.  "Where are my mom and Rose?"

Before anyone could answer a loud crash sounded from down the hall.  "Right, I’m on it" Lily said and took off in that direction.

Dean started to follow her but Sam put a hand on his arm to stop him.  "Let them try to work this out on their own, Dean." Dean nodded, knowing he needed to stay out of it for now.  But he was like a tightly wound spring, ready to jump at a moment’s notice.

Raised voices could be heard coming down the hallway, though it was hard to tell if it was just one or all three of the women yelling.  Through it all, Daisy stayed in the kitchen, eating pancakes at the counter, seemingly blind to the turmoil.  Dean couldn't decide if she actually was that oblivious or just had a great knack for ignoring things she didn't want to deal with.  Either way he envied her.

Just then an even louder crash sounded and a door swung open, so hard it sounded like it might come off its hinges.  "How dare you bring him into this?  How dare you!"  There was no mistaking Rose's raised voice now.  "I didn't want this, I didn't choose this.  Do you honestly think he would have wanted this for any of us?"

There were other loud noises coming from the room and at least one other raised voice, which Dean assumed was Erin, but it was hard to hear over the other noises coming out of the room.  Rose cut her off pretty quickly.  "No, no you don't get to say that to me.  This is not my fault.  I didn't steal anything.  My God, what's wrong with you, that you would think that?"

Dean could hear Rose's voice shaking and the noise from the bedroom was building to a fever pitch.  He was just moving to go to Rose, when suddenly two suitcases flew down the hallway and landed in a heap near the dining table.  Erin said something then and though Dean couldn't hear what it was he did hear Lily gasp out "Mom!" obviously shocked at whatever she had said.  That was followed by a thunderous clap as something large landed with a crash.  Then Rose's voice saying "Get out!" and suddenly Lily and Erin were both being forcibly expelled from the room and the door slammed behind them.

Both women stood there in utter shock for a second, then Lily looked at her mother in disgust and turned her back on her and started pounding on the door, yelling at Rose to let her in.

"Did Rose just telekinetically throw them out of the room?" Sam asked, looking as floored by what had happened as everyone else did.

"Looks like" Bobby said.

Dean looked back to see Daisy standing in the kitchen doorway, a look of panic on her face.  “What’s going on?” she asked softly.

“You’re mom and sisters are imploding” Dean said shortly.

“Dean!” Sam said sharply and Dean winced when he saw the pained look on Daisy’s face.

“Sorry” Dean said, lamely.  He was too shocked and worried to sugar coat things right now.

Down the hallway Erin was whining at Lily while Lily tried to ignore her and continued banging on the door, begging for Rose to let her in.  Lily finally turned to her mother and said "Mom, just leave, please.  You've done enough damage already."

Erin walked away, ready to play the wounded, long suffering mother but from the looks that greeted her she wisely figured she was playing to the wrong crowd.  With an indignant lift of her head she exited the bunker.  Dean wasn’t sure where she was going and he really didn’t care.

Dean headed down the hallway and the closer he got the louder the noise coming from the bedroom became.  Lily had tears streaming down her face when he got there and he put a comforting arm around her.  "Bad?"

Lily just nodded.  "She won't let me in.  Maybe she'll open the door for you?"

“Let me try.” Dean hugged her briefly, her pain so evident it ripped at his heart.  "I know a big guy down there who really wants to hold you.  Go to Sammy, Lily."

With a grateful, tearful, smile Lily practically flew down the hallway to Sam's waiting arms.  He immediately picked her up, holding her against him and trying to absorb some of the pain coming off of her in waves.  He shot Dean a grateful smile then turned his attention completely Lily’s way.

Dean turned to the door, hoping he had the right words to get Rose to open the door.  He really didn't want to break it down, but if that’s what it took to get to Rose, he would.

* * *

In the bedroom Rose was sitting in the midst of a storm. A small lamp, a woman's high heeled shoe, a small bedside table...these were all part of the debris swirling in the center of the room.  The movement helped her head, but maybe it made her anger worse?  She wasn't sure.  She wasn't sure of anything right now, except that now she was alone in here and couldn't hurt anyone.  That was good.  She had wanted to hurt her mother so badly.  After the filthy words came out of her mouth she had wanted to shove anything she could find down her throat to shut her up.  The shoe flew suddenly out of the circle and embedded it’s heel in the bathroom door.  OK so not calming down.  She pushed her back up against the wall as hard as she could, burrowing into the corner of the room, drawing her knees up to her body, trying to make herself as small as possible.  She wanted to forget everything her mother had said and just disappear.

She realized that Lily had stopped banging on the door.  That was good.  She didn’t want Lily near her right now, didn’t want to take the chance she would hurt her.  She closed her eyes and pressed her head to her knees, spinning and swirling in her mind.

“Rose” Dean’s voice came from the door.  He rattled the handle, trying to get in.  “Let me in, Rosie.”  Rose ignored him.  She didn’t want him in here either.  It was too dangerous.  A book that was on the dresser joined the whirlwind, looping up in the air lazily then picking up speed as it joined the circle.  “Come on, Rose, open the door.  We can talk.”

“Go away, Dean” Rose called out.   “I just want to be alone.”  The book slowly opened and pages started slowly tearing out, littering themselves around the room.

“I can’t do that, Rosie” Dean said.  “You need to open up the door now.”  He waited a minute, trying to hear if Rose was moving to open up but all he could hear was the same, consistent noise from within.  “Come on, you got a lot of people worried out here.”  No response.  Dean was running short on patience now.  “Rose, don’t make me break the door down.  I’m not screwing around either.  I’ll do it.”  Just as Dean was ready to ram the door down it quietly opened, allowing him entry into the room.  Rose knew Dean well enough to know that once he set his mind to something he wouldn't give up.  She may as well give in and let him in.

Walking into the bedroom was like walking into a warzone and when the door slammed shut behind him Dean jumped slightly.  There was paper littering the entire room, which Dean slowly realized were pages from a book that was slowly shedding its pages right in front of him.  The furniture was tossed about like a child’s toys and there was a constantly moving cyclone of items from the room that was turning, circling in the center of the room.  There also seemed to be a high heeled shoe stuck in the bathroom door, Dean noted with some confusion.  He finally spotted Rose, in the corner of the room, her knees drawn up to her chest, head resting against her knees and her big, sad eyes on him.  There was anger there too but it was the sadness that really got to Dean.

“Hey Baby” Dean gave her a smile, walking towards her and taking a seat next to her on the floor.  He looked up at the swirling whirlwind, then at the shoe in the door.  “So, this is interesting.”  Rose just looked at him somberly.  “Wanna talk about it?” That got him a shake of her head and the whirlwind picked up speed slightly.  Dean nodded and leaned against the wall, slowly bringing his hand up to stroke Rose’s hair.  He felt her body shaking slightly and felt a stab of concern over what all this was doing to her.  Dean decided a lighthearted topic was the best course of distraction.  He cleared his throat and said: “So I was thinking, I know my hair is too short to braid but I bet Sammy’s isn’t.” No response, so he kept on talking, stroking her hair the whole while.  “Maybe once Lily comes back to stay for a bit we can have a big slumber party, all four of us.  And assuming Lily can braid hair she could work on Sam and I could probably learn to braid yours.  We could even invite Charlie.  She’s got long hair and can do braids I’m sure…” Dean trailed off and smiled at Rose when he felt her eyes on him.

“Did you just say you want to learn to braid my hair?” She asked, looking slightly confused.

Dean leaned closer to her.  “Baby, I’d learn anything you wanted me to” and he added in his sexiest grin.  He was pretty sure Rose blushed at that.  He noticed the whirlwind was going slower.  Taking that as a good sign he kept going.  “We gotta finish our game too, right?  I know Lily is convinced you guys will beat us but I think we’ll give you a run for your money.  And hey, I just like hearing your stories.  Can’t wait to get some juicier details.”  He winked and Rose managed a small smile.  The book slowly stopped shedding it’s pages and settled on the dresser.   They were getting somewhere.  Dean slid his arm around her shoulders, sliding his hand up and down her arm, stroking her skin softly.

“I mean I’ve already learned you have a thing for guys in suits, which is good to know.  It just so happens that I look pretty damn good in a suit myself.”  Dean slowly eased Rose back, so that she was leaning against him.

“Oh ya?” she asked softly.  The bedside table slowly settled on the ground, as well as the other, smaller items that had been spinning, landing in various spots around the room.

“Definitely.  Next time I have to pretend to be a Fed I’ll model it for you especially.” He leaned down and whispered in her ear.  “I could even pretend to be Mr. Miller if you like.”

Rose smiled tiredly.  “Na, I prefer Mr. Winchester these days.” She waited a beat then added. “But I like the picture of you as a teacher.  That’s hot.”  The lamp settled onto the bedside table, the final piece of the whirlwind stopped.

Dean chuckled.  “I’ll remember that for future reference.  Something tells me you could be a really good naughty schoolgirl.”  Dean stroked her face and tipped her chin up so he could look in her eyes.  “We ok?”

She nodded and then glanced guiltily at the bed, which was in pieces.  That answered the question of what the loudest crash had been.  “I broke your bed.”

Dean let out a loud laugh.  “Well I won’t lie and say I never imagined us breaking a bed together…”

Rose let out a giggle and Dean smirked at her.  She sobered and looked at him intently.  "You're crazy, you know that, right?  You just pretty much walked into a hurricane and sat with me through it."

"Ya, remember my whole "I'm gonna be by your side speech?"  I actually meant it."

"So I see” Rose said.  “That doesn't show a whole lot of self preservation instinct, you know."

"Eh" Dean shrugged.  "It's overrated." 

"I'm so sorry about all this" Rose said, in a flood of emotion.  "Here you let us into your home and we turn it into a family drama right down to the broken furniture.  I'll understand completely if you want me to leave" she said sincerely.

"Ok, that's it.  Come here.  We really have to talk." Dean unceremoniously drug Rose onto his lap, wrapped his hands around her waist and made her look at him.   "Number one, we invited you here knowing your powers weren't controlled.  This" he gestured to the chaos in the room "has always been a possibility.  So what?  Big deal.  The destruction Sam and I have wreaked between us over the years makes this look like nothing.  You don't get to apologize for this.  Number Two, things you can apologize for include things you do on purpose.  Or stepping on someone's foot or burning a pie." Rose giggled at his horrified expression at that last one, but her breathe caught in her throat when his expression changed to one she was getting to know well.  It was a sexy, intense, almost predatory look and it made Rose's heart beat faster. "The next time you do apologize for something you can’t control, Rosie" Dean slid a hand down to rest on her ass and leaned into whisper in her ear in a husky voice, "I swear I will turn you over my knee and spank that pretty little ass of yours till it glows."

Rose looked down at her hands and then back up at him from under her lashes, squirming a little as she did so.  "You shouldn't say things like that to me, Dean" she murmured.

"Why not?" Dean asked, his lips warm against her ear, his hand on her ass squeezing lightly.  "Because it makes you shiver?" He asked as he felt a slight quiver go through her.  "Because it makes you picture it?"  He reached out and lightly snagged her earlobe in his teeth, nibbling gently, causing Rose to gasp and clutch at his shoulders.  "Or because it makes you want it?" Dean whispered, pulling his head back to look at her.

Rose let out a shaky laugh.  "Can I say all three?" She watched Dean's eyes darken with lust as he leaned towards her and then suddenly pull back before his lips met hers, when there was a loud knock on the door.

"Hey Dean, Rose?  Are you guys ok?" Sam's voice asked.  "You have a bunch of worried people out here."

"Damn it" Dean said lowly.  He grinned at Rose.  "Guess we can't pretend we're not here, huh?"

Rose smiled.  "Sadly, no." 

“One second, Sammy” Dean called out.  He looked at Rose.  "You want to talk to Lily, right?” Dean asked, knowing that setting things right with her sister would be her top priority.  Rose nodded.  “You wanna talk to her on your own?  Or I can stay." Dean said, holding one of her hands in his.  "Whatever you want."

"I should probably talk to her on my own," Rose said, biting her lip.  "But can I do it in my room?" She looked around her and shook her head.  "I kind of want to get out of here."

"Sure thing, Baby" Dean said.  As they got to their feet he noticed Rose looking wary.  "What's wrong?" he asked in concern.  He noticed how tired she was looking suddenly.  The blowup with her mom and ensuing melt down had obviously taken it’s toll on her.

"Is my mom still out there?" Rose asked quietly. 

"She had gone outside last time I was in the dining room, but I'll check" Dean reassured her. 

He opened the door a crack and saw Sam's eyes widen at the wreckage behind him.  Dean quickly gave him a look not to say anything and Sam caught on.  "Is Erin still outside?" Dean asked quietly.

"Ya, Bobby went to check on her.  She's sitting in his truck now, refusing to come inside." He rolled his eyes at her behavior.

"Good, as long as she's not in here I don't care where she is" Dean said.  "Can you get Lily to Rose's room?  They obviously need to talk."

Sam nodded.  "Ya, then come to the dining room.  We need to talk too."


	17. You Can't Hide When You're Turned Inside Out

After the girls were safely ensconced in Rose's room (Lily had brought Daisy along as well, figuring she should be part of the sisterly bonding.), Dean made his way to the dining room. He was met with two pissed off men and Dean had the passing thought he was glad he was fairly sure it wasn't him they were angry at.

Sam looked up and motioned toward a cup of coffee waiting for Dean.  Dean nodded his thanks and took a seat. "I was telling Bobby about the number Rose did on the bedroom."

"She broke the bed?" Bobby asked incredulously.

Dean nodded.  "Into several pieces.  Moral of the story is, don't piss Rose off."

“Good luck with that” Bobby snorted, then added.  "She's gotten pretty damn strong pretty damn fast."  Both boys nodded in agreement.

"What the hell was all that anyway?" Dean asked.  "I know Rose and Erin aren't close but that was like apocalyptic levels."

"Lily said they started really clashing after their Dad was killed" Sam said.  "But not like this.  This surprised her too."

"Well they're both really emotional right now" Bobby said.  "And with Rose's new powers, well any emotion she may try to hide is gonna show through."

"Did Rose tell you what Erin said?" Sam asked Dean quietly.

"No, I was more focused on getting her calmed down.  We had a mini tornado when I first went in.  I now know how storm chasers feel" Dean said, with a shake of his head.  "Tell me" he said to Sam.

"Ok, but you have to promise you won't go after Erin."

Dean started.  "That bad?"  Sam nodded.  Dean paused a second then said "Ok fine ya, I won’t go after her."

Sam rolled his eyes at his brother.  "Well that was convincing" but he continued anyway.  "Apparently when Lily got into the room things were already heated.  Erin seemed convinced that Rose had somehow stolen Daisy's powers and switched them with hers on purpose.

Dean just stared at Sam.  "What?  That makes no sense.  Doesn't she know her daughter at all?  Rose doesn't want this.  Why would she..where would she even come up with something like that?"

"I have no idea" Sam said.  “She told Rose that her Dad would have never wanted this for her.” He took a deep breath then said "Right before Rose threw them out?  Erin had told her she obviously wasn’t equipped to handle these powers, she wasn’t strong enough and that her father would be ashamed of her."

Dean was on his feet in an instant, striding towards the door.  Luckily Sam has seen this coming and beat him to it and blocked Dean's way.  "Get out of my way, Sammy."  Dean growled at him.

Sam shook his head.  "I can't do that, Dean."

"The hell you can't.  There's no way I'm letting her get away with saying that shit to Rose."

"I get it, Dean, I do" Sam said placatingly.  "But think about Rose.  If you get into a fight with Erin it will just upset her more."

Dean paused, knowing Sam was right but not wanting to back down.  With a groan of frustration and a string of curses, Dean turned and walked back towards the table where Bobby was still seated, his frustration and upset visible.  "How can you be so calm about all this?" He asked Bobby heatedly.

“’Cause I don't think it's Erin," Bobby said calmly.

Dean stared at him for a second, then abruptly sat down.  “Excuse me?”

“Ya, it’s Erin but I think something else is influencing her” Bobby said.  “I’ve been noticing since we got to their place that she’s been acting oddly.  A bit I could chalk up to the shock of all this, but she still seemed off.  Today just sealed it.  She and Rose may not be as close as she’d like but she loves her.  She would never say any of that shit she said today.  Not ever.”  Bobby seemed certain of this.

Both boys seemed to be mulling this over.  “So what are we talking about?” Dean asked finally.  “A spell?”

“That would be my guess,” Bobby said.

"Great.  Witches." Dean muttered.  "Just what we need."

"I know Erin has contacts in some covens.  Some of them helped her with wards and other stuff through the years.  Maybe someone there did this." Bobby ventured.

"So what do we do?" Sam asked.  "Should everyone stay here?" Dean was already shaking his head.

"I don't think Rose and her mom staying in the same vicinity is a good idea," Dean said.  "Not while Erin’s like this.  I'm not sure the bunker would stay standing for very long."

"Good point" Sam acknowledged. "What about Lily and Daisy?  Do we stick with the plan and have you all head back to your place?" He asked looking at Bobby. 

Dean broke in.  "What about you and Erin staying at a local motel?  The girls could stay here.  Hopefully we can get this spell cracked quickly.  I don't like the idea of you all going back to your place with Erin still under some spell."

"That could work." Bobby nodded towards the bedroom.  “We need to tell the girls, if for no other reason than their safety.  Plus the more people we have researching the better."

"Let's hold off on telling Rose for now" Dean said.  "That episode with her mom and the aftermath really took it out of her."  It occurred to Dean that with the blowup with her mother just after she got up, she hadn't eaten anything yet today.  "I'm gonna take her something to eat and then see if she'll rest for a bit.  If she hears what's going on she'll want to help and I don't think she's up for it right now."

Bobby nodded.  "I'm gonna go get Erin and I checked in at the local motel.  I'll be in touch if I find out anything."

Dean and Sam nodded.  Once the door was closed behind Bobby, Dean headed to the kitchen.  "I'm going to make Rose some food and send the girls out.  You ok with filling them in on the details?"

Sam nodded and Dean got to work.  Knocking on Rose's door with a plate and cup in his hand a few minutes later, he was grateful when Daisy opened the door.  It was obvious the girls had all been crying (Even Daisy, Dean was surprised to note.) but all looked happier than they did before.  Sisterly bonding at its best.

Dean handed the toast and tea to Rose with one word ("Eat”) then turned to her sisters.  "Ok girls, time to clear out.  You're all staying at least another night, so don't worry you'll see each other later.  Sam wants to talk to you in the dining room."  After more hugs Lily and Daisy headed out and Dean turned to Rose.  She was nibbling on the toast and staring at him, obviously aware something was up.

"What's going on?" She asked.

Dean sat down next to her on the bed.  "What's going on is you're exhausted.  This morning took a lot out of you.  So eat your toast and drink your tea and then its nap time."

Rose stared at Dean as if he had lost his mind.  A part of her acknowledged just how tired she was.  The idea of lying down and resting sounded heavenly.  But a larger part of her bristled at being told what to do.  "Dean, I haven't taken a nap since I was 6." She narrowed her eyes at him.  "And I certainly haven't had anyone to tell me to take a nap since then either."

Dean ran a hand through his hair.  "Right, I'm being bossy.  Sorry.  I'm an older brother; it's kind of my default setting, especially when someone I care about needs taking care of."

"If you tell me you feel like my older brother we're gonna have a problem" Rose said with a smirk, taking another bite of her toast.

Dean chuckled.  "I most definitely do not look at you like a sister" Dean said, with a suggestive wink.

"Good, cause that would be all kinds of awkward."

"I just know this morning was tough and you're tired, Baby."  He stroked her cheek softly.  "Will you just humor me and try and rest?"

Rose took another bite of her toast and drank some tea before responding.  "Ok, since you asked so nicely."

Dean smiled at her.  "That's my girl."

Rose ate the rest of her food in silence and Dean left her to her thoughts.  She had dark circles under her eyes and looked ready to drop.  Thank God she hadn't put up too much of a fight about resting.

Once she'd finished, Dean took her plate and cup away while she went to the bathroom to change back into her pajamas.  The she came back and slid into bed and he tucked her in (Leaving the bathroom light on.  He got a smile for remembering that.)

 "When I wake up, you'll fill me in on what’s happening?" Rose asked with a yawn. 

"I promise" Dean said, kissing her forehead.

"Good" Rose murmured.  "I hate not knowing what's going on."  She was out in a matter of minutes.

"You and me both, Rosie" Dean murmured, before closing the door behind him.  "But I'm going to do my best to figure it out, I promise you."

* * *

A few hours later found all the current bunker inhabitants who were awake, hard at work in the library.  To the boys surprise Daisy was a pretty good researcher.  She plopped her headphones on and got to work, pouring through old books and being the quietest they had ever heard her.  Dean figured he should file this information away, so that if ever she was babbling nonstop he could just set her down the research path, thus keeping himself from strangling her.

Lily, on the other hand, it was pretty obvious research just wasn’t her thing.  She hated sitting still, especially when she felt like she should be doing something.  She got bored reading and was obviously out of her element.  She finally got out her laptop and researched on there, which at least kept her from fidgeting so much.  She and Sam were definitely a case of opposites attracting in this instance. 

Dean went to check on Rose after she had been lying down for two hours and found her still soundly asleep.  He fed Sookie and then texted Bobby, watching Rose sleep.

_Rose is still asleep.  Think this is normal?_

He quickly got a response.

_With the amount of energy she used today it makes sense.  She’ll probably be out most of the rest of the day._

_Thanks.  Any new info on your end?  We’re still looking._

_Same here.  Nothing yet._

Dean took one more look at Rose, kissed her on her forehead and then went back to the library to once again hit the books.

* * *

Dean had to admit, he was getting a perverse bit of pleasure at seeing how much Lily was annoying Sam.  When Sam got into research mode he hated to be disturbed.  And here was this woman Sam had a thing for and she was making him nuts, distracting him at every turn.  (At one point Sam had muttered something about tying her to a chair if she didn’t sit still, which got him a very interested smirk from Lily which in turn caused Sam to turn several shades of red.  It was pretty entertaining.)  Usually Dean was the one who would annoy Sam, as he found research boring too.  He never understood how Sam could enjoy it so much.  But compared to Lily, Dean was a straight A research student.

Finally Dean took pity on her and asked her to go check on Rose for him.  She all but ran down the hall.  Dean couldn't help but chuckle and Sam glared at him.

"Aw, what's the matter, Sammy?" Dean teased.  "Your little girlfriend driving you crazy?"

"Seriously, how can any one person move around so much?" Sam groaned. "I thought you had a short attention span."

"Well, see," Dean smirked "I'm not nearly as bad as you think I am."

Lily came back a few minutes later and threw herself down in her chair.  "She's still out.  I could have thrown a party in there and I don't think she would have moved."  She looked at Dean.  "Bobby said this was normal?"

Dean nodded.  "Said she used up so much energy this morning it drained her."  Dean noticed that Daisy had taken her headphones off and was listening intently.

"I did some reading on telekinesis" Sam said.  "I think she'll slowly build up strength.  Right now Rose's mind isn't used to the drain her power puts on her but from what I read, it sounds like she'll get to where it won't take as much energy."

"You mean she's going to get stronger?" Lily asked.  "Did you see what she did to the bed?"

“Hey guys," Daisy broke in.  "I think I might have found something.  There's a spell mentioned here called an influence spell.  It says you can influence the person to think or behave however you want them to."  She looked up at the others hopefully.  "Does that sound like what we're looking for?"

Sam looked at Dean and nodded.  "That sounds like exactly what we're looking for.  Good job, Daisy." Dean grinned. "And for the record, you totally kick your sisters’ ass when it comes to research."  Daisy beamed with pride while Lily threw a pencil at him.

* * *

Sam called Bobby and gave him a rundown of what Daisy had found.  Bobby agreed it sounded like what they were dealing with. That was the good news.  The bad news was the reversal spell (which was listed on the next page of the book Daisy had found the spell in) was complex enough they would need a pretty powerful witch to cast it.  Bobby was making some calls.  Till he found someone who could help, there wasn't much they could do, aside from research the prophecy itself.  Considering how bad Lily was at research and how much she distracted Sam, Dean didn't see them getting much done on that front.  While Sam and Daisy did a little more digging Dean recruited Lily to help with lunch.  She went along gladly, happy to be away from the books.

As Dean dug around in their pantry to figure out something for lunch (They really needed to make a supply run.) Lily took a seat at the counter.

"Rosie will love that library, you know.  She has a thing for libraries, says they're one of her happy places."

"Ya, Sam does too.  He loves it in there. Then again, put him any place with books and he's happy."  Dean emerged with some cans of soup and crackers.  "Funny, isn't it?  They're so much alike but look who they wound up with.”

"Life's quirky that way.  Just because somebody's brains are alike doesn't mean their hearts are."

"Oh, aren't we profound," Dean said, rummaging in the cupboards for a pot to cook the soup in.

Lily shrugged.  "Ya, well watching two of the most important people in your life almost come to blows will do that to a person."  She looked at the counter for a second then looked up at Dean.  "My mom hurt Rose so bad with what she said, Dean.  Rose adored our dad, you know."  Dean nodded.  He remembered how close Rose and her Dad had been. "When we lost him it just about killed her and my mom, but instead of bringing them closer together it just pushed them further apart."  Lily shook her head.  "Today, when my mom said all that stuff I could see on Rosie's face what it was doing to her.  I really thought she was going to hurt my mom in turn and I don't know that I could have stopped her.  I mean, I would have tried but who knows if it would have worked?"  Lily stared off into space for a minute then seemed to come back to herself.  "Sorry, I'm rambling."

Dean shrugged.  "Ramble all you want.  No law against it here." 

Lily seemed to take him at his word.  “Do you know how weird it was to see Rose like that?  I mean, she has a temper, sure, but it’s not out of control.  Hell, she’s usually the one calming me down.  She’s the gentlest, kindest person I know.  Even when we were kids, she was never mean.  Stubborn and bratty, sure, but never mean.”  Dean smiled, knowing Rose’s stubborn side all too well. “We had a fight once; I must have been about 10.  I don’t remember what she did but she made me so angry I told her I hated her.  The look on her face,” Lily shook her head. “You would have thought I had stabbed her.  My dad took me aside and instead of yelling at me or punishing me he just told me. “Lily, words hurt your sister like knives.  Your words are weapons too.  Remember that and don’t use them to hurt your best friend.” Lily smiled.  “He had this amazing way of using our differences to draw us together, never drive us apart.  Do you know what he said to me when Rose was born?”  Dean shook his head, having stopped looking for a soup pot and was just listening to Lily instead.  “I was three when Rose was born, so I’m not sure how much of this I really remember and how much I know because he wrote it down and put it in this journal he gave me.  But anyway, he put Rosie in my arms and told me “Lily, this is your best friend.  She’ll love you, she’ll look up to you and she’ll fight for you like no one else can.  Do the same for her.  I’m giving you a little sister and it’s the best gift in the world.”  He was right too.”   Lily wiped tears from her eyes and let out a self conscious laugh.  “Sorry, I really did go off on a tangent there.  I guess this is all getting to me.”

“Don’t worry about it” Dean said.  “Again, ramblings allowed here.  It’s a rule in my kitchen.”  Dean gave her a reassuring smile, then thought for a second and said “No offense, but your dad was definitely an odd guy for a hunter.”

Lily laughed.  “Oh totally.  He was such a paradox.  He loved to read, I guess that’s where Rosie gets it.  And he would recite Yeats poems at the drop of a hat, God I could probably still recite some if I tried.  I bet Rose can for sure.  He was from near where my Dad was from in Dublin, I think that’s one reason he loved him so much. But God, he was fierce in a fight.  He was this gentle giant, smart and kind, but heaven help you if you messed with his family.”  Lily looked thoughtful.  “Kind of sounds like someone else we know, huh?” She said, inclining her head towards the library.

Dean smirked.  “Ya, but Sam doesn’t have an Irish brogue.” Dean looked thoughtful. “Or recite poetry…that I know of, at least.” He went back to looking for the soup pot. 

Lily giggled.  “Nope.  Maybe I’ll challenge him and see if he can do either of those.” 

Finally finding the soup pot Dean started opening the cans and pouring them in.  "Hey, who all knew your mom and Rose didn't get along so well?"

Lily thought that over.  "Not many people.  Maybe a few hunters, I would guess some of the witches in the coven mom talked to."

"So there was a specific coven she worked with?"  Dean asked, stirring the soup.

"Ya, I don't know much about them.  They gave me the creeps.  I know there were a few women in it she was pretty close too."  She looked up as Dean nodded thoughtfully.  "You think it could be one of them who cast the spell?"

"Would make sense" Dean stirred the soup again them lowered the heat so it could simmer.  He came and took a seat at the counter across from Lily.

“Well if anyone might know something it would be Daisy.  Mom took her with her a lot when she went to visit the coven.” 

“Good to know” Dean said, planning on asking Daisy over lunch.  She was turning out to be immensely helpful in all this.

Lily looked nervous suddenly.  “Do we need to get back in there and help them research?” she asked hesitantly, looking like she’d rather face a horde of demons.

“Oh no, that soup has to simmer for a bit…to ya know, let the flavors blend and we need to stay here to make sure it doesn’t burn.”  He winked at Lily. 

Lily laughed.  “Gee, Dean, if I didn’t know better I would swear you weren’t a fan of research either.”

Dean looked at Lily seriously.  “Lily, not a day goes by that I’m not grateful for research.”  He paused then added with a grin “And even more grateful that I have a little brother whose great as it so I don’t have to be.”


	18. You Draw It Out Like a Highway

Dean quizzed Daisy over lunch, (The soup having finally simmered to his satisfaction.) on what she knew about the coven her mom visited.  She knew some names and details, easily enough for Sam to research.  Dean suggested Lily and him head into town and pick up some supplies, leaving the two better suited to research at home.  Both Sam and Daisy had specific requests from the store, which Lily noted on her phone as they made a list.

While Dean went to check on Rose one more time before they left, Lily pulled Sam into the kitchen for a quick “check in”.  She hopped up on the counter and pulled Sam to her.

“Now try not to have too much fun while I’m gone” Lily purred, giving him a teasing smile.  “I know dusty old books are so exciting…”

Sam groaned.  “You are hands down, the worst researcher ever, Lil.”

She shrugged.  “I know.”  She didn’t sound in the lease bit sorry about it either.  She smiled wickedly up at Sam.  “Isn’t it great that I have other talents?  Kicking demon ass, looking great in a pair of jeans, awesome skills with a knife” she paused then added slyly, “Been told I have a really talented mouth…”

“Ya, lets test that last one out” Sam muttered, putting a hand on the back of her neck, pulling her head back and leaning down to lock his lips on hers.  Lily’s arms wrapped around his neck, pushing her chest up against his and wrapping her legs around him so that his hips were locked against hers.  He moaned into her mouth and her tongue took full advantage, darting in and licking and teasing.  His hand at her waist grasped her firmly, stroking up her side.

“Well isn’t this cozy?” a voice from behind Sam said.  Dean, of course.  Sam pulled back from Lily, though not completely.  They’d already been caught so what was the point?  “Of course I’d prefer the coziness not be on my kitchen counter.”  He looked at Sam.  “You wanna get your little girlfriend’s ass off of that?”

With a long suffering sigh Sam picked Lily up and placed her on her feet in front of him.  “Rose still sleeping?” he asked.

“Ya, check in on her while we’re out, ok?” Dean asked and Sam nodded. 

To Lily’s surprise Sam gave her a quick kiss on the lips.  Kissing in front of other people, that was new.  “Try and keep him out of trouble, ok?” Sam said, and then seemed to re-think that statement. "Actually on second thought, I don’t even know which one of you I should consider the responsible adult so…just try not to get arrested.”  He walked back towards the library with a shake of his head.

Dean and Lily laughed in unison and headed for the Impala.

* * *

Sam settled in at the library table, happy to see that Daisy was well into the book of prophecies in front of her.  He’s set her on that task while he took on the research of the coven.  He figured with both Dean and Lily out they could make some real headway.  Turning on his laptop he pulled up a browser window and got started with the list of names Daisy had given him.

Twenty minutes later his phone buzzed, letting him know he had a text.  With so much going on he didn’t dare ignore it and so picked it up immediately.  He started to choke when an image appeared on screen. Daisy looked up and he smiled, taking a sip of his coffee, signaling he was ok.  She smiled and went back to the book.

Swallowing his sip of coffee Sam looked down at the phone again.  Apparently Lily had decided to have some fun while she was out.  Staring back at him was a mouthwatering image taken down the V-neck of Lily’s t-shirt.  Underneath the caption read:

_Maybe not a talent but I think they’re a nice asset  ;)_

Sam let out a soft groan, being sure to be quiet enough that Daisy wouldn’t hear him with her headphones on.  At one point in his life he really didn’t have many distractions.  It was pretty much research, hunt and drink at the local bar.  Women were fun and not too hard to find but there was no one serious and certainly not anyone to distract him.  Then he and Lily had started flirting and she had pretty much turned his life upside down.

_Are you taking pictures like that in the car with my brother???_

_Course not.  We stopped for gas and I popped to the bathroom.  :)_ _  
_

Sam considered for a minute.  He could not respond and get back to researching.  Lily would be irritated and would sulk for awhile but he could handle that.  Or he could have a bit of fun and still get some research done.  After all, she was going to the grocery store with Dean.  She wouldn’t be able to text the whole time once they got there.  Decision made (And wasn’t Lily always getting him to take the riskier route? Wasn’t that part of her appeal?) Sam texted back:

_An A+ asset.  They looked even better last night._

_Because I had no shirt on or because your mouth was on them?_

Sam shifted uncomfortably in his chair.  Damn it, Lily.  Well, in for a penny, in for a pound.

_Both...and the view of them was amazing when you were on your knees too._

Ok so bringing that image to mind did not help his situation.  Hopefully he wouldn't have to get up anytime soon.

_If I didn't know better, Sam, I would say that was your favorite position to see me in._

_Hey, you said it yourself, you have a talented mouth. I appreciate your talents._

Sam didn't get a response right away and after a few minutes he was focused on looking up the next name on the list he had.  A few minutes later his phone buzzed again.  Another picture, (They had obviously made it to the store.) this time of Lily holding a pair of red scarves in her hands.  She had one end wrapped around her wrist.  The caption below read:

_Were these what you had in mind for tying me to the chair?_

"Me and my big mouth" Sam muttered.

_You know that's not what I meant._

He swore he hadn't meant anything by the comment, but as soon as the words left his mouth and he saw the look on Lily's face, he knew she was going to have fun with it.  And if he was honest, now that image was stuck in his head and it _was_ pretty hot.

_So you don't want to tie me up then?_

_Oh I did not say that...just maybe not to a chair._

No way was Sam letting Lily get the misguided notion that he didn't love the idea of her tied up for him.  Because now that he'd thought it he couldn’t un-think it and the idea strongly appealed to him.  Bossy, strong, Lily tied up for him to do whatever he pleased to her?  He didn't think a reality existed where that _wouldn't_ appeal to him.  Though knowing Lily she would only agree to it if he promised to let her tie him up at some point too.  That idea held a whole other realm of possibilities.

_Oh, whose being a tease now?_

_Well if memory serves me correctly you like being teased._

A few minutes passed, in which Sam hoped Lily and Dean were actually getting some groceries bought.   Then another picture came through, this one involving Lily and something from the produce section, showing off her “talents.”  Sam groaned, thinking that 1. She may well be the death of him and 2. She and Dean may just get thrown out of the store.

His phone buzzed again before he could reply and he was surprised to see the text was from Dean.

_I confiscated your little girlfriend’s phone.  Don’t know what the hell you two were up to but she had the produce lady ready to call the cops._

A second passed and then another text came in again, from Dean.

_See, this is me acting like the responsible adult here!_

Sam laughed and sent Dean the thumbs up sign.  Then he got back to research, undisturbed, but definitely less entertained.

* * *

Lily trailed behind Dean, down the frozen food aisle, pushing a cart and sulking at the unfairness of it all.  She had been having fun with Sam and her phone.  She wasn’t hurting anyone.  She threw a glare back over her shoulder at the grumpy produce lady.   They’d bought the damn cucumber in the end anyway so what was the big deal?

Dean had stopped and was putting several frozen pizzas and pies into his cart.  “You know, I can hear you pouting all the way down the aisle” he said. 

“Well you took my phone away, what do you expect me to do?” Lily sulked.

“Help me get the shopping done so we can get back to the bunker and you can do whatever the hell you want with my brother?” Dean suggested.

“OK” Lily acquiesced with a slight eye roll.  “But you have the list on my phone.”

“Great” Dean muttered, pulling her phone out and turning it on, scrolling quickly past images and texts he did not want to see, including a picture of Sam that he was pretty sure had scarred him for life.  Lily giggled at his involuntary shudder.  “Let’s see- salad, pizza, check, check.”  He looked up at Lily questioningly.  “We need ice cream?”

“If you want Rose talking to you, then yes, we need ice cream” Rose said, heading right for the Ben and Jerry’s section and putting several cartons into her cart. 

“And check on the ice cream” Dean said, checking it off on Lily’s phone.

They moved onto the next aisle, which happened to be wine and beer.

“Now we’re talking!” Lily enthused, putting several bottles of wine in her cart.  She also grabbed several daiquiri mixes and was searching for rum and tequila when Dean informed her she couldn’t get that at the grocery store.

“What kind of state is this?” Lily muttered, looking horrified.  Dean assured her they would make a liquor store run on the way home.

 _Your little girlfriend’s a booze hound -_ Dean couldn’t resist texting Sam.  He got no response.  He was pretty sure Sam was ignoring them both at this point.

Bread, taco shells and tortillas all went into the cart.  (Apparently the Sullivan girls liked Mexican food. Lily swore that Rose made great tacos so they got all they would need for those.) Salsa, tortilla chips and cheese, lots and lots of cheese, made their way into their carts.  Milk and eggs, sour cream and butter…the dairy section took a hit when they went through.  Peanut Butter and more kinds of jelly than Dean knew existed joined them.  Lots of different kinds of meat, including beef, chicken and turkey were added as well as lunch meats.  Potato chips and some weird fruity snack food that Daisy loved were thrown into the mix.

They rounded the corner onto the cookie and cracker aisle and added plenty of both.  Dean was ready to head for the next aisle when Lily stopped him.  She handed him a package of chocolate covered mint Oreos.  “Get these for Rosie” she said, giving him a smile.  “She loves them.”  Dean gave her a grateful smile and added them to his cart.  One trip down the cereal aisle and they were ready to check out.  Dean looked at their two overflowing carts and decided it looked like they were feeding an army with some really weird culinary tastes.

They checked out and as Dean had promised they made a stop at the liquor store.  Lily stayed in the car, giving Dean her wish list of Tequila, Rum and Vodka and with a smirk Dean handed her phone back to her.  “Try not to cause too much trouble with this while I’m in here” he said.

Lily stuck her tongue out at him and happily grabbed her phone.   She immediately texted Sam.

_Yae! I’m out of phone jail.  I bet that gives you all kind of images of me in handcuffs, huh?_

She waited a few minutes and when he didn’t answer she texted him again.

_Hey, everything ok there?_

A few more minutes passed and she saw Dean checking out with a cart full of alcohol.  (Who even knew they had carts at the liquor store?  Between the food and liquor they looked like they were stocking a frat house.)  When she still didn’t get a reply from Sam, she texted Daisy.

_Hey Day, how’s the research going?_

She waited while Dean came out with the liquor, loading it into the backseat and still no reply from Sam or Daisy.

When Dean got back into the Impala he caught the look on her face right away.  “What’s wrong?” he asked quickly.

“I’m not getting an answer from Sam or Daisy” she said, her worry clear in her voice.

Dean immediately pulled out his phone and checked his messages.  Sam never had replied to his last text from the store.  He texted him again, now.

_Sam, are you guys ok?_

He didn’t wait for a response but threw his phone onto the seat and started the Impala.  “It’s probably nothing.  They probably are both so involved in research they haven’t looked at their phones” Dean said, trying to reassure them both.

Lily nodded, looking as convinced as Dean felt, which was not at all.

“Call Bobby, see if he’s heard from them” Dean said.  Lily dialed quickly, and from her side of the conversation Dean was able to make out that Bobby hadn’t heard from anyone at the bunker since before they left for the store.

“If I floor it we can be back at the bunker in 15 minutes” Dean said.

 “Then floor it” Lily said, her face and body tense with worry.

Dean nodded once and they flew down the highway, heading for the bunker and whatever waited for them there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy season 11 premiere day, y'all!


	19. I've Got Angels All Around Me

As Rose slowly drifted up through the layers of sleep she was aware that something in the room felt...off.  Yes, that was the word.  Not necessarily dangerous or wrong but definitely strange.  She opened her eyes slowly to see a man in a trench coat staring at her.  When he realized her eyes were open he cocked his head to the side and asked in a deep voice “What _are_ you?”

* * *

Sam heard Rose's scream, loud and clear from the library.  He and Daisy both shot up and ran down the hall.  Sam kept telling Daisy to go back the whole time but she ignored him.  When he got to Rose's room he threw open the door to find Cas standing and staring quizzically at Rose.  She was seated on the bed which was now levitating off the floor, looking terrified.  Sookie was on top of the dresser, watching the goings on with a disinterested look.

"What the-Cas what are you doing here?" Sam asked.

Cas didn't answer, just kept staring at Rose as if he'd never seen anything like her.

"Rose!  Rose, you need to calm down." Rose just looked at Sam, her terror evident in her eyes. 

"Who is he, Sam?  I woke up and he was here, in my room."

"He's a friend of ours, Rose.  It's ok.  You're safe." _Or you will be if you put the damn bed down_ , Sam thought.  He racked his brain for a way to get Rose to focus and calm down.  He walked toward the bed, smiling reassuringly at her.  "Look at me, Rosie. It's ok.  You need to calm down and put the bed back down on the ground, ok?"

"I, I can't, Sam.  I don't know how." Rose felt panic fill her chest.  “Where’s Dean?”

"Ya, you can. Look at me, ok?  Don't worry about anything else, just talk to me."  Sam reached out and grabbed one of Rose's hands.  "Dean went out, if he comes home and finds out I let you fall off a floating bed he's gonna be royally pissed at me."

"It's not your fault, Sam."  Rose squeezed her eyes shut and Sam could tell she was trying really hard to focus and calm down but it seemed to be having the opposite effect.  If anything the bed was going higher.  OK time to pull out the bossy big brother voice.  He’d heard Dean use it enough, he was pretty sure he could pull it off.  “Rose, open your eyes and look at me.”  Rose did so slowly.  “I know you’re scared and panicked but I promise you Cas is not a threat, ok?  You trust me?”  Rose nodded slowly.  She did trust Sam.  “Would I ever let you get hurt?  Or let someone near you who was a threat?”  Rose shook her head, her heart rate slowing a little.  Sam was happy to see the bed slowly lowering.  “Not to mention the fact that Dean would kill me if you got so much as a scratch.” Sam winked at Rose and she laughed softly, the bed settling itself to the floor.  OK, so slowly she was getting better at this.   Way too slowly in her opinion but still, it was progress.

Sam settled himself next to Rose on the bed.  "See, I knew you could do it, Rosie!”

"Thanks, Sammy." Rose smiled at him. 

Daisy had been standing in the doorway, but chose that moment to come all the way into the room.  She walked straight up to Castiel (Who was still staring at Rose.) and said.  "You're Castiel.  I saw you in my dream."

Sam and Rose both looked startled.  Daisy hadn't mentioned any dreams, especially not any including Cas.

That at least caused Castiel to shift his attention from Rose for a minute.  He regarded Daisy with a curious look.  "I've been in your dreams?" He asked finally.

Daisy nodded.  "Mmm hmm."  She smiled.  "I like your coat."

"Thank you" Cas said gravely, regarding Daisy solemnly.  “You have lots of big hair.”

Sam wondered for a minute if maybe _he_ was dreaming.  This was one of the weirder conversations he had heard.

Just then a door slammed and they heard feet pounding against the floor, heading their way.  "Rose?  Sam?"  Both Lily and Dean's voices echoed down the hallway.

"We're down here in Rose's room" Sam called out.

A harried and worried pair of faces appeared in the doorway.  "Why the hell aren't you answering your fucking phone?" Dean growled out, catching sight of Rose and Sam together and rushing towards them. 

"We kind of had a situation here," Sam said, gesturing around the room. 

Dean suddenly noticed Cas standing there.  "Oh, Hey Cas."

Cas nodded in greeting.  He'd gone back to staring at Rose again.

"He appeared here in Rose's room" Sam said.  "She woke up to find him here."

Noticing that the bed was now in the center of the room and that Sam was holding Rose’s hand, Dean caught on quickly that Cas' entrance didn't go over well.  "Aw, Cas man, you can't just show up like that with people who aren't used to you."

"Hey guys?" Lily got their attention.  "We have a ton of groceries to bring in.  Now that we know you haven't all been murdered" She shot Sam an accusing glance and he held his hands up.  "Can we get the stuff in and put away?"

"I'd kind of like to get dressed" Rose said, still looking freaked out by Cas.  Sam didn't blame her.  With everything that she'd been through the last couple of days, waking up to find a strange man staring at her wasn't what she needed.  “You did great, Rosie” he said and gave her a reassuring smile as he rose to go help the others.  He got a grateful smile from Rose in return.

"Ya, you guys go start on the groceries.  Cas, go with them, ok?  I'll be out in a minute" Dean said.   Cas looked reluctant to leave his new obsession but Sam put a hand on his shoulder and steered him out. 

Dean took Sam’s spot next to Rose on the bed.  “Hey Baby, you ok?” Dean asked anxiously.

Rose nodded.  “Ya, that was just weird.  I woke up and he was just standing there staring at me.”  She looked at Dean curiously then.  “He asked me what I was.  What does that even mean?”

“He did?” Rose nodded.  “Huh.  Well, who knows.  Cas is..” Dean searched for the right word to sum him up and settled on – “Different.  You know how I’ve mentioned him helping us out a few times?”  Rose nodded, standing up and gathering her clothes to get dressed.  “Well there’s a reason I called him this time.”

“Oh ya?”  Rose headed into the bathroom leaving the door open enough that they could still carry on their conversation.  “Does he have experience with telekinesis?”

Dean thought of the many time’s he’d seen Cas throw someone across the room with his mind.  “You could say that.”

“Is he a hunter?” Rose asked, coming out of the bathroom with her brush and sitting on the bed next to Dean.  She put on socks and sneakers (She’d already figured out the bunker could be chilly.) and proceeded to rid herself of her bedhead.  Dean smiled, loving the look of her hair in disarray.

“No, he’s an angel.” Dean watched Rose’s face closely as his meaning sunk in.  The brush stilled and she just stared at Dean. 

“An angel?  Like with wings and a halo?”

Dean looked thoughtful.  “I don’t think he has a halo, but wings, ya.”

Rose looked dazed.  “So that was an angel I woke up to?”

“Yep” Dean confirmed and then chuckled.  “Kinda sounds like a song title, doesn’t it?”

Rose quietly went back to brushing her hair.  “And he can do that, just appear anywhere?”

“Ya, kind of part of the angel thing” Dean said. 

Rose nodded again, her fingers slowly moving to put her hair in a braid.   She took the brush back into the bathroom and winced at the sight of the bruise on her neck.  Dean could tell she was mulling this all over in her head.

“Why did you think he’d be able to help me?” Rose asked finally. 

“Well aside from telekinesis he can see things about people sometimes.”  Dean shrugged.  “I just figured it couldn’t hurt.  Maybe he can see something, figure something out we can’t.”

“It’s worth a shot” Rose murmured from the bathroom doorway. 

“I got you a treat from the grocery store” Dean said, smiling at her. 

Rose smiled back at him, walking over to join him on the bed.  “Oh is that where you went?”

Dean wrapped his arms around Rose and pulled her back against him, as he leaned against the headboard.  He groaned.  “Oh yes, and isn’t that a fun story of your sister almost getting us thrown out.”

Rose giggled, snuggling into Dean and getting comfortable.  “Oh this I have to hear.”

Dean kissed the top of her head.  “Oh you will, trust me.  But first, let me fill you in on what’s been going on.”

* * *

Sam’s eyes had lit up when he had seen the tons of groceries Lily and Dean had bought.  They were working on putting them away in the kitchen now.  Daisy was sitting in the dining room, staring at Castiel who was in turn, staring down the hallway.  Every time they talked to each other it was in weird, short sentences.  The two of them made Sam feel like he was watching some odd avant-garde play.   He was just fine with them letting him and Lily handle the groceries.  They could keep their weirdness out there with them.

Sam stared at the bags of alcohol on the counter.  “How much booze did you guys buy?” he asked.

Lily laughed.  “Well we’re stocking up for the next round of our game.”  She looked thoughtful.  “Which kind of needs a name.  Hmmm, I’ll work on that.” 

“It sounds like you had quite the adventure at the grocery store” Sam said, giving Lily a look which she wasn’t sure how to decipher.  He was either impressed or horrified at her daring.  Maybe a little of both. “You know, I was joking about you two not getting arrested.  I didn’t think it was an actual possibility.”

Lily gave him an overly dramatic pouty look.  “It wasn’t my fault the stupid lady at the grocery store got all offended over nothing.” Sam raised an eyebrow at that and Lily conceded “OK something, but it wasn’t that big a deal.  Then Dean got grumpy and took my phone away.  God, he’s bossy.” 

“Always has been and always will be” Sam said, putting the last of the frozen food away.  He chose not to add that Lily was pretty bossy herself. 

“Did you like the entertainment I provided for you?” Lily asked with a flirtatious grin.

Sam groaned.  “I was in the library with your baby sister, Lil, unable to get up from the table because you had me so turned on.”  Lily giggled at that and Sam shook his head.  “You are so, so bad.”

Lily smiled.  “I know.  Isn’t it awesome that you like me just that way?”

Sam laughed.  Lily was completely incorrigible.  He couldn’t help it.  The smile on her face made him have to kiss her.  He took her face in his hands and kissed those red lips that made him crazy, that took center stage in so many of his fantasies.  Lily responded enthusiastically, winding her fingers in Sam’s hair.  She pulled on the strands lightly and Sam moaned.  She took that moment to move her mouth to his ear and whisper:

“I bought the scarves.”

* * *

Rose leaned back in Dean’s arms on the bed, taking in everything he had told her.  Dean was happy to note that they had only two incidents (The bed had shook at one point and a book had whipped around the room quickly, but then settled back onto the dresser.) when he broke the news to her about the spell her mom was under.   She was being awfully quiet though. 

“Rosie?” He said, squeezing her waist.  “What are you thinking?  Say something.”

“Can I ask you a question that has nothing to do with what you just said?” Rose asked.

“Of course, you can ask me anything.”

“Were you mad at me when you found out I hadn’t told you about the prophecy?  Are you still mad at me?  You said we’d talk about it once things had settled down and I’m kind of beginning to doubt that will ever happen and it’s just there, bothering me so I really need to know.”  The words came out of her in a rush, like a tide of water whose dam walls had broke open.

Dean sighed.  He hadn’t been planning on having this conversation today.  If he didn’t think about it he could push down his feelings about what had happened.  He’d done that the past few days.  But Rose was right; Things were still crazy, but this was at least a tiny moment of relative calm.  Maybe it was best to have this conversation now and get it out of the way.  Slowly he eased Rose up so that he could slip out from behind her.  He moved to sit on the end of the bed, across from her so he could look at her. 

“You really want to have this conversation now?” he asked.  Rose nodded, folding her hands in her lap and looking back at him steadily.  “OK then.”  Dean ran a hand through his hair nervously and started to talk.

“When I first found out from Bobby that there was a prophecy involving you I was truly, fucking pissed.   Given how close we’ve always been and how much closer we’ve gotten, I felt like you lied to me.  I felt betrayed.  It hurt.”  Dean was being as blunt and as open as he knew how to be.  The bluntness wasn’t hard.  The openness though, that was a new one.  How the hell did people do this all the time?  “Then a certain annoying person pointed out that if the situations were reversed, that I would have done the same thing you did.  And he was right.”  Dean rolled his eyes in an aggravated manner.  “An annoying know-it-all, but right.”  Rose smiled slightly at that.  “I get why you did it, that you were protecting your family and listening to what your mom wanted.  I love that you watch out for your family like that.  We’re the same in that way.”  Dean smiled at Rose, hoping she could see how much that part of her meant to him, that he respected and admired it.  Then he frowned.  “But facts don’t erase feelings or override them.  So if I’m being honest,” Dean looked directly in Rose’s eyes, so she could see everything.  “Honestly, yes, I’m still upset about it and hurt and I’m still angry.  Not like I can’t stand to look at you or talk to you angry, but it’s going to take some time for that feeling to go away.”

Rose nodded then, slowly, making sure Dean was done before she responded.  “Thank you for being honest.  Really.  I would so much rather you tell me something I don’t want to hear than lie to me and tell me everything is fine, when it’s not.  I did lie to you, by omission, but that’s still a lie.  I hated every second of it too.  Believe me I did try to get my mom to change her mind but there was no budging her.” Rose sighed and looked down at her hands.  “I know that makes me a hypocrite, since I’m always telling you to be honest with me and here I am hiding this.  I just didn’t have a choice, Dean.” Then she shook her head. “No wait, you know what?  I did.  I did have a choice and I put their lives ahead of your feelings.  My mom honestly felt that the less people who knew the safer we all would be.  Now if it had just been just my life we were talking about, I would have told you in a heartbeat.  But it wasn’t and I didn’t have the right to make that choice for my mom and sisters.” She looked up at him then, a sad little smile on her face.  “This all probably makes me sound really horrible, doesn’t it?  Like your feelings don’t matter to me.”  She shook her head.  “Nothing could be further from the truth.  The next to last thing I would ever want to do is hurt you, Dean.  I care about you so much and the idea of hurting you in any way kills me.”  She took a deep breath. “But the _very_ last thing I would ever want to do is put someone I love in danger.” She looked at Dean then, and he saw in her eyes that strength that so often got overlooked in Rose.  People saw Lily’s strength as it was on the surface and hard to miss.  Rose’s was buried deeper and showed up in less obvious ways, but it was there and it ran deep. “I understand you’re upset with me and you have every right to be.  Just please know, I am so sorry.”

Dean was silent, taking in everything she said.  He knew what she said made sense, that it was logical and even admirable, especially to someone who believed in putting family before anything else, like they both did.  It didn’t change the fact it all still hurt though.  “I’m just going to need a little time, to get past this, ok?” He said.  “What you said all makes sense and I totally get why you did what you did.  Just give me some time.”

Rose was nodding enthusiastically.  “Absolutely, take all the time you need.”

“I do need to know there are no more secrets or anything else you’re keeping from me.  No more lies, by omission or otherwise, going forward.” Dean fixed Rose with an intense gaze.  “This is a onetime thing, Rose.  Give me some time and I can get past this.  But I can’t do it again.  I won’t.”

Rose nodded solemnly.  “No more lies and no more secrets.  I swear.”

Dean nodded.  “OK then.”

“So total honesty from now on, from both of us.” Rose clarified and Dean nodded again.  Rose crawled down to the end of the bed then, leaning into Dean’s personal space so her face was inches from him.  “Are we ok enough that I can kiss you?” she asked softly.

Dean smiled at her.  “You can always kiss me, Rosie.” He sat back, letting her come to him.  She touched her lips to his tentatively, softly.  She tried to convey with her lips what she couldn’t with her words; that he was so, so important to her, that she was devastated she had hurt him, that she desperately needed him to see how she felt.  Her hands were on his legs, bracing her, as her lips softly brushed against his.   Her lips touched his tenderly, as if he was the most precious person in the world.  The kiss was an apology and a promise, rolled into one, wrapped in all the emotions that she couldn’t put into words.  Rose knew that if there was one thing Dean understood it was touch.  He was a physical person by nature, more likely to show affection through a hug than with words.  Rose hoped he would really hear how she felt through the kiss.  Slowly she eased back, staring into his eyes till she saw what she needed to, that he understood.  It would take time for him to get past it, but he would, they both would.  With a contented sigh Rose climbed up onto his lap and he wrapped his arms around her.

They stayed there like that for several minutes, Dean wondering at the fact that even while he was upset with her, she could still make him feel more peaceful than anyone else.  With a sigh he looked down at her.  “So onto a different matter…your mom, the spell.  What are you thinking?”

Rose sighed.  “I don’t know if I should be grateful my mom doesn’t really think those horrible things about me, scared she’s under a spell, or horrified that I’m an evil person who threw my mother and sister out of a room.”

Dean hugged her.  “Ya, it’s a lot.  You’re not evil though, I promise you.  I have experience with evil and you are not it.”

“Still, I feel bad” Rose said.

“If it makes you feel any better, if Sam had said half the shit to me that she said to you?  I would have knocked him on his ass.”

“Well yes, ok, at least I didn’t knock my mother out.”  Rose laughed.  “That’s my consolation.”

“Hey, I’m a glass half full guy, Sweetheart.  What can I say?” Dean smirked.  “Speaking of which, you made it through a whole emotional conversation and nothing moved.  That’s awesome.”

Rose smiled proudly.  “Thanks.  I think I’m figuring out it’s harder for me to control if I feel overwhelmed or blindsided.  If I can prepare myself I can kind of keep a lid on it.”  She frowned slightly.  “I think.  I’m still figuring this out.  Anyway, so Bobby’s still looking for a witch to do the reversal spell?”

“Ya, I need to text him and see if he’s gotten anywhere with that.”  With a sigh Dean lifted Rose and set her on her feet and then stood up next to her.  “You know any minute now some member of the insane clown posse is going to come looking for us, wanting us to be part of their insanity.”

“True” Rose said.  As they got to the door she stopped and looked at Dean.  “Can I just say, and then I’ll drop this, I swear, but can I just say if there’s anything I can do to make this up to you, tell me, please?”

Dean gave her quite possibly the dirtiest, filthiest smile she had ever seen, that instantly set her heart to racing.  “Rosie, that is a very dangerous, tempting offer.”  Then he winked at her.  “I may just have to take you up on it.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally Cas makes an appearance!


	20. I'm Livin' in a Hurricane

Heading down the hallway towards the dining room, the first two people Rose and Dean came across were Daisy and Castiel.  They seemed to be having an odd conversation about shoes, of all things.

"Hey Cas" Dean said.  Cas’ eyes snapped their way and his eyes instantly trained on Rose. 

“Dean” Cas said, moving towards them. 

“Rose, this is Cas” Dean said, hoping that actually introducing the two might make things a little less awkward.

“Hi” Rose said, smiling at Cas.  Yes, he was still staring at her but Dean said he was a good guy, an angel, so she was trying to ignore the weird vibe he was giving her.

“Hello” Cas said gravely and Rose wondered if he ever smiled.  He stared at the bruise on Rose’s neck then nodding his head towards it, he looked at Dean.

Dean cleared his throat and said “Um, Rose, Cas can heal your neck if you like.”

“He can what?” Rose asked, looking startled.

“I can heal your body of pain and illness” Cas said, looking at her intently.

“Um, ya, ok” Rose said nervously.  “That would be great.  What do I do?”

“Just stand there” Cas reached out his hand and placed two fingers on Rose’s forehead.  She felt warmth flood throughout her body and suddenly the dull ache that had been in her throat since Mark had grabbed her eased and then disappeared completely.

“Wow” she said, placing her hand on her throat.  “That’s amazing.”  She smiled at Cas, truly grateful.  “Thank you.” 

Cas nodded and stared at her face intently, making Rose want to squirm.  Dean had had enough.

“OK Cas, what’s up with the staring?  You’ve seen a girl before.”

“Not like her” Cas said.

Dean and Rose glanced at each other.  “What’s that mean?” Dean asked.

“She has the strangest aura about her, different colors pulsing all the time.”  Cas looked enthralled, making Rose uncomfortable. “It’s fascinating to watch.” 

Rose looked at Dean, not sure what to say to that.  She wasn’t sure what she had been expecting him to say, but that definitely wasn’t it.  

“I have an aura?” Rose asked and Cas nodded.  “Oh yes. A very, very bright one in multiple colors.”

Dean decided it was time to talk to Cas alone, without an audience.  “Hey Daisy?” Dean called to the youngest Sullivan, who was sitting at the table, watching them all. “Why don’t you go with your sister into the kitchen?”  Daisy nodded and headed that way, looking over her shoulder to see if Rose was coming.  Rose was looking at Dean, trying to figure out what he was thinking.   “Why don’t you get something to eat, Baby” Dean suggested.

“You want me to go into the kitchen so you two can have a discussion about me?” Rose asked incredulously.  

“Just give me a minute, ok?” Dean asked.  “Trust me?”

Rose nodded, not happy, but willing to give Dean the benefit of the doubt and headed towards the kitchen.  Cas’ eyes followed her the whole way.

As soon as she was gone Dean turned to Cas and barked out “OK explain.  And would you quit staring at her?  It’s creepy.”

Cas seemed to shake himself, as if coming out of a daze.  “I apologize.  It's just very distracting.  She's..hard to concentrate around."

"Tell me about it" Dean said with a grin.  "Though something tells me we're not talking about the same thing."

* * *

Once they got into the kitchen Daisy took a seat at the counter and Rose stopped, surprised at the surplus of alcohol laid out there.

"Holy crap, did they buy the store out?" She wondered aloud.

She opened the freezer, happy to see that Lily had gotten her favorite ice cream.  She pulled out a container of Phish Food, grabbed two spoons and sat across the counter from Daisy.

"Have some ice cream" she said, handing Daisy a spoon.

Daisy shook herself, seeming to come out of a daze.  "Oh thanks."  She dipped her spoon in and took a bite.  "Mmm."

Rose was watching her closely.  "Are you ok?" She asked, taking a spoonful of ice cream herself.

Daisy nodded slowly.  "I think so.  I just, I feel a little weird when I'm around Cas."

"Weird how?" Rose asked, concerned.

“Like I’m still in a dream.”  She looked intently at Rose.  “This isn’t a dream, right?  This is real?”

“It’s real” Rose said, growing more concerned.  “Back in my bedroom you said you had a dream about him.  When?  You never mentioned it.”

“I didn’t remember it till I saw him” Daisy admitted, taking another bite of ice cream. “When I saw him it was like-” Daisy scrunched her nose, trying to figure out how to describe it. “Like I opened a scrapbook and there were all these memories of him there from my dreams.  I didn’t know I had seen them before but once I saw him they all came flooding back.”

Rose took a bite of the ice cream and thought about this.  “OK that’s weird.  We need to add this to our list of things to figure out.”  She sighed.  “And dear Lord is that list getting long.”

Daisy giggled.  “It _so_ is.”  Taking another bite of the chocolate ice cream, Daisy looked at Rose curiously.  “So can you move anything with your mind?  Like, could you move a building?”

Rose thought about that.  “I don’t know.  I moved the bed, well two beds actually, now.  They didn’t feel heavy so much as…OK, when I get overwhelmed there feels like there’s this pressure in my head.  Lifting things or moving them makes that pressure ease up.  Does that make sense?”  She looked at Daisy questioningly and Daisy nodded.

“Can you do it whenever you want?  Could you do it now?”

Rose glanced at the carton of ice cream and it began to jauntily dance across the table.  She grinned at Daisy, dancing it back towards them then.  “Ya, I guess I can.”  She sobered then.  “It’s actually the controlling it that’s harder.  If I panic I can’t stop it, which scares me, which makes me feel more panicked.”  She made a circle in the air with her spoon.  

Daisy made a face.  “Sorry.  That sucks.”  She looked thoughtful.  “Maybe it’s like a muscle though and the more you use it the better you’ll get at controlling it.”

“Hmm, ya maybe.  That would make sense.”  Rose licked her spoon, her mind turning this over.  “There has to be research out there too, right?  I mean I’m not the only person who can move things with my mind.”

“Oh ya, there definitely has to be” Daisy said.  “I bet we can find a ton of stuff on it to help!”  Daisy looked really excited at this idea and Rose smiled.  Daisy could be difficult but she had a good heart and she was someone who loved to help.  Give her a task and she would do anything she could to complete it.

Dean came into the kitchen just then, running his hands through his hair, a sure sign he was nervous about something.  He smiled at Rose though and walked over to one of the cupboards and started rummaging around before pulling out a box and handing it to her.  The smile on her face over a box of cookies was priceless.

“Oh Dean, these are my favorite!” She jumped up and gave him a quick kiss.  “You could totally get away with dressing up as a prince now” she whispered in his ear and winked at him.  She tore open the package and immediately put one in her mouth.  She closed her eyes and let out a little moan of ecstasy, causing Dean’s eyes to widen, then darken.  Rose swallowed the cookie, opened her eyes and smiled up at him, at which point he leaned down and whispered “OK, No more eating those cookies in front of anyone but me, because that was seriously hot.”  Rose blushed and giggled at him.

“Oh my God you two, get a room already” Daisy said. 

“While that sounds like an incredible plan,” Dean said, causing Rose to smack his arm. “We all need to head to the living room.  Cas wants to try something out.  Where are Sam and Lily?”

“No idea” Rose said, looking at Daisy.

“I think they went to Sam’s room” Daisy said and Dean turned to go get them.  Before he could move though, Rose laid a hand on his arm.

“We need to talk about something before we see Cas.” She nodded to Daisy.  “Tell him what you told me, Days.”  Daisy explained what she had told Rose, about her remembered dreams and how odd she felt when she was around Cas.  Dean looked completely perplexed when she was done. 

“OK that’s all super weird.”  He pointed at Rose.  “He said you were hard to concentrate around, but maybe it wasn’t you.  Maybe it was Daisy.” He shook his head.  “Or maybe it was both of you.  Did you feel weird around Cas at all?” He asked Rose and she shook her head.  "Hmmm, OK let me go get Romeo and Juliet and let’s try something.”

Rose put the ice cream up while Dean went down the hallway to Sam’s room.  They heard him bang on the door and call out “Hey you two, glad you’re enjoying an afternoon delight, but we need you out here.”

* * *

A short time later, Sam called Lily into the living room where he and Dean were waiting with Castiel.  They'd gone in without the girls, told him what Daisy had said and explained they wanted the girls to come in one at a time to see how he, and they reacted.

Lily walked in, smirked at Sam's still rumpled hair and stood in the center of the room.  "So?" She asked, hands on her hips.

"She's all blues and purples.  Swirling, no pulsing” Castiel said.  “And I feel clear headed."

Dean nodded as Lily walked over and plopped down on one of the couches.  "Ok Daisy, come on down.  You're the next contestant on “What’s going on with this angel?"

Daisy walked in, looking nervous and immediately closed her eyes.  She opened them a second later and her eyes had taken on a dreamy and unfocused cast.  "Your hair looks different today, Castiel.”  She motioned with her hand towards her head.  “It was spikier before.”

Lily got to her feet quickly, staring from her sister to Cas.  “Daisy, are you drunk?”

Cas was staring at Daisy with a perplexed expression on his face.  “Yellows and greens…and I do feel somewhat strange.”

“OK Daisy, go back out.  Daisy!” Dean snapped his fingers in front of her face, finally getting her attention.  “Daisy!  Go now!”  Still looking dazed, Daisy turned and walked out of the room.

As soon as she left the room all eyes turned to Cas, who was shaking his head, as if trying to clear it.  “Cas, you ok?” Sam asked.

“The fog seems to lift as soon as she leaves the room” Cas muttered.  They waited a few seconds, for Cas to get his wits back about him, then Dean called out for Rose.  She walked in, looking curiously at Cas.

He immediately stared at her.  “Every color of the rainbow, lots and lots of reds and purples…pulsing non-stop.  It’s fascinating.”  He tilted his head to the side.  “But my mind is clear.”

“So Rose has a weird colored aura but Daisy is the one making you foggy headed” Dean summed up.

Cas nodded.  “All of their auras are brighter than most people’s I’ve seen.  Yours and Sam’s are especially vibrant compared to most people as well.  But only Rose’s is so…overwhelming.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever been called overwhelming before” Rose said, with a small frown.

Dean smirked at her, unable to stop himself from commenting. “Trust me, Princess, you are.”

Daisy popped her head back in the doorway.  “Can I come back in now?”  Everyone looked at Cas and he nodded, though he moved back further in the room, distancing himself from Daisy.  As Daisy walked into the room, nearing her sisters, Cas’ eyes widened.  “That’s very interesting.”

“What?” Dean demanded.  “What’s interesting?”

“With all three sisters in the room all of their auras brightened considerably….and they’re all pulsing now.”   He stared at the sisters, who had all naturally grouped together.  “It’s like watching a huge, pulsing ball of light.”

Lily looked intrigued.  “So we’re like a giant disco ball?”

Rose and Daisy were whispering to each other.  “Hey, care to share with the class?” Dean called out.

Rose raised a hand.  “Just a sec” she said.  She put her arm around Daisy and pulled Lily in, so the three were standing in a tight circle with their arms around each other.

“What are they doing?” Sam asked, watching them curiously.

“I don’t know” Dean said, throwing his hands up and pacing, his frustration at not knowing what was going on evident in his voice.  “Maybe it’s some magical sister thing or maybe they’re planning a girls night out.  Who fucking knows!”

“Um, Dean?” Sam said, interrupting him before he could get on a roll.

“What?”

“Look” Sam nodded towards the girls.  Dean turned and his eyes widened.  All three girls were levitating several feet off the floor, a slight glow emanating from them.

“Oh, what the hell?” Dean said.

All three girls slowly raised their heads, separated, but kept holding hands.  They smiled at each other and then smiled at the boys. 

Cas had moved up to watch alongside Sam and Dean, the mystified look on his face even more intense now.  Sam and Dean for their part just looked shocked.  Then they looked around them and noticed something even more surprising.

“Where the hell are we?” Dean growled. 

They were no longer in the living room.


	21. Wish I Could Be Just a Little Less Dramatic

Birds were chirping, the sun was shining and there was a light breeze rustling the leaves in the trees.  The weather was warm, but not hot, the kind of weather where you’d want to bring along a light sweater for later, as it probably would get a little cooler.  All in all, it was the perfect day for being at the park, maybe to have a picnic or kick a soccer ball around, which was where it appeared they all were.  Except that no one remembered leaving the bunker and yet here they all were, standing in a park on a beautiful spring day.

“Where the fuck are we?” Dean asked, not at all happy with this turn of events.

“No idea” Sam said, with a shake of his head.

Sam, Dean and Castiel were all looking around, perplexed and confused at their new surroundings.

The girls however, seemed pleased, happy even.

“You did it, Daisy!” Rose exclaimed.

“I did!” Daisy enthused and she and Rose held hands and began to jump up and down with joy.  She stopped suddenly and looked around wonderingly.  “I didn’t know we would all actually come here though.  I thought I could just show you.”

“You’re stronger than you think, Days” Lily said, beaming at her with pride.

Daisy turned back to her sisters and hugged them.  “This is even better than I hoped!”  They all proceeded to do some sort of demented happy dance, which under different circumstances Sam was sure he would have found amusing, maybe even charming,  but not right now.  Right now he just wanted answers.

“OK what are they talking about?” Sam said, looking at Cas.  “Any ideas?”

Castiel shook his head slowly.  “No.” he began to walk slowly down the path in the middle of the park.  “It’s very pretty here though.” He was obviously feeling the effect that Daisy had on him.

Dean rolled his eyes.  “Great.  We’re in Wonderland with The Mad Hatter and three crazy versions of Alice” he said, waving an arm in the girls’ direction.

“Oh guys, we have to go this way!” Daisy called out excitedly, pulling her sisters along by the hands and running down the path.  “They’re down here!”  She rushed past Cas and the boys and before they could stop them, all three sisters had ran far ahead.

“Oh you gotta be kidding me” Dean growled out.  “They’re running?  What are they, five years old?”  He glanced at Sam.  “When I get my hands on them…We have to go after them, don’t we?”

Sam nodded, looking around.  “I don’t know where we are but we probably don’t want to get split up.”

With another growl and a long suffering sigh Dean took off at a run after the girls, with Sam right behind him, catching hold of Cas along the way and dragging him along with them.  They caught up to the girls fairly quickly, mostly because they had stopped along the way to wherever they were going, to make daisy chains from flowers on the side of the path.

“Girls, what are you doing?” Sam asked, crouching down beside Lily and Rose in the grass.

“Oh Sam!” Lily said, excitedly.  “I’m so glad you’re here.  I didn’t know you’d get to come along.”

Sam smiled back at Lily, hoping to get some answers.  “Where is here, Lil?” but Lily just giggled in response and wove some daisies through his hair.

Daisy meanwhile was staring at Cas, who was just staring back.  She smiled, and then he smiled.  So, Disney movie now, as opposed to the former avant-garde play, Sam thought.  He supposed that was progress.

“They’re acting really weird, Dean” Sam commented, standing to his feet.

“Ya, no shit, Sherlock” Dean muttered.  He was glaring down at Rose, who was seated next to Lily, humming happily to herself.  She had a wreath of daisies on her head that Dean knew for a fact wasn’t there a few minutes ago.  He was done, out of patience and had had enough.  Reaching down, he grasped Rose by the shoulders and pulled her to her feet.  “Rose, where are we and what the hell is going on?”

Rose opened her mouth to speak, but before she could Lily was on her feet, glaring at Dean.  “Don’t you be mean to her!" She pushed him then and Dean could have sworn she barely touched him, but he flew back several feet, barely managing to keep his footing.  Sam rushed to his side.

“Are you OK, man?” Sam asked and Dean nodded.  He knew Lily was strong but that was over the top, super hero level strength.  Chalk that up along with the rest of the weirdness.

“It’s OK, Lily” Rose soothed.  “He’s not being mean, he just doesn’t understand.”

“Damn right I don’t understand” Dean yelled, making everyone turn and look at him.  “Where in the fucking hell are we?”

Daisy turned from Cas then and let out a tinkling laugh.  “We’re in my dream.” She smiled,as if this was the most obvious answer.  “Come on girls, we’re almost there.”  And off she went again, with her sisters running behind.  Cas ambled in their general direction.

Sam and Dean just looked at each other.

“We’re in her dream?” Dean said.  “Is that even possible?”

“I don’t know..I mean, we’re here, so ya I guess so.”  Sam said and frowned.  “I just don’t see how.”

With a look, the boys took off after the girls again, once again pulling Cas along with them.  They caught up to the girls further down the path, watching something.

“What are we-“ Sam started, only to be hushed by Lily.

“This is what we came to see," Rose said, putting her fingers to her lips and giving the boys a stern look.

“Oh, when we get home,” Dean started, clenching his jaw, then changed it to “Assuming we ever _do_ get home, we are going to have a long talk, Rosie.”

“Shhh” Daisy said, “You’ll miss it.”

Just then a couple appeared, carrying a picnic basket and blanket.  They were talking quietly, smiling, and obviously enjoying their day in the park.

“You know those aren’t the best shoes to wear to a picnic” the man said, with a smile, motioning to the woman’s red high heels.

The woman giggled, and ruffled his hair.  "You got a new hair cut, I got new shoes.  I wanted to wear them today.”

“We came here to watch a couple have a picnic?” Dean whispered to Sam.

“Dean, look at their faces” Sam hissed and Dean did, letting out a quiet “Holy Shit” when he realized who the couple was.

Daisy spun back to face them all.  “See?  I told you I had seen him before.”

And with a sudden jolt they all found themselves standing back in the living room.

* * *

The first thing Dean did, once he could walk a straight line, was to walk to the library and pour himself a shot of whiskey.  Sam appeared at his side moments later and Dean poured him one too.  Cas wandered out soon after and Dean considered offering him a shot as well but then reconsidered, figuring they needed Cas clear minded.  He’d spent enough time tonight being foggy.

The girls were all still in the living room.  Dean had walked out with just a cursory glance their way to make sure they were all breathing.  Sam however had checked on them, asking if they were ok.  They were all looking a bit dazed but happy, almost giddy.  When he left, they were all talking at once.

“What the hell was all that?” Dean asked after he’d downed the first shot and was onto his second.

“I’m going to guess some form of astral projection?” Sam said, from the table, where he had taken a seat.  Dean was still too amped up to sit down and proceeded to pace around the room.

“Are you OK?” he asked Cas.  “No urges to skip down the path and talk about how pretty the park is?  Or picnic with Daisy?”

Cas shook his head.  “I think I may have to avoid Daisy.  She makes me much too confused.  I couldn’t think straight in the park…or dream…whatever that was.”  He looked at them with a slightly panicked look.  “I must go” and like that he was gone.

“Oh that’s great” Dean muttered.  “Never a good sign when something’s freaky enough to scare an angel off.”  He paced around the room before asking “Is this some part of Daisy’s power?  Was that a dream, or a vision of the future or what?”  He looked at Sam.  “And what the hell was that with Lily going all Incredible Hulk?”

“Cas, said when the girls were all together that their auras were brighter, right?” Sam asked.

“Yes, and “pulsing” Dean said, making air quotes.

“So it could be a part of Daisy’s power that she hadn’t discovered yet and it’s possible that when the girls are together their powers are stronger.  I mean, Dean, they were glowing.”

“So together, they, what amp each other up?” Dean asked, coming to a stop.  “Like a sister battery pack?”

“Ya, I guess so” Sam said.

“Huh” Dean commented, returning to pacing.

“I suppose astral projection falls under the heading of a dream or a vision,” Sam mused.  “I’ve never heard of anyone being able to take other people along with them but if they enhance each other’s powers it may be something she can only do with her sisters there and not-“

“Did they know?” Dean said abruptly, cutting Sam off.

“What?” Sam said, and then shook his head.  “No, how could they?”

“Rose and Daisy were whispering, remember?  And they wouldn’t say what about and the next thing you know -poof- we’re in dream land.”

“Dean, I don’t think the girls had any more of an idea what was going to happen in there than we did” Sam said.  “Maybe once they got together like that their powers just kicked in.  I’m sure they’ll explain it all.”

Dean looked skeptical, but said nothing.  Sam just hoped that he was right, if for no other reason that the damage that any other explanation would bring to Dean and Rose.

* * *

In the living room, the girls were strewn across the couch like fallen leaves.  They were alternating between flashes of excited chatter and moments of languid afterglow.  None of them knew exactly how what had happened, had happened.  It had all been instinctual, led by Rose’s suggestion that maybe Daisy could show them her dream.  Rose wasn’t even sure where that thought had come from.  Just somehow when all three of them were standing together it had popped into her mind.  None of them had expected to be transported into the dream, but once they were there it was magical.  All three of them had felt this overwhelming sense of joy and excitement and even better, they could sense the other two’s feelings.  It was like their happiness was tripled because of it.

“The flowers were so pretty” Rose sighed.  “I wish I could have brought my wreath home with me.” Her sisters murmured in agreement.

“Was that you in the future, Daisy?” Lily asked, looking curious.

Daisy nodded her head.  “I think so.  It was in my head whenever I saw Cas.”  She frowned slightly.  “I don’t know when or where though.”

“Your shoes were very nice” Lily said, solemnly.

“Weren’t they?” Daisy asked excitedly.  “Thank You!" Her sisters both responded enthusiastically, then having expended way more energy than planned, they all three dozed off into an impromptu nap, piled on the couch like a litter of sleepy kittens.

* * *

Dean had settled down at the library table finally, after Sam had gone to check on the girls and came back to report that they were all asleep on the couch.  “Ya, I guess dream hopping wears you out” Dean muttered sardonically, a third shot in his hand.

Sam had his phone out and was looking at something.  “But tides change as do visions” he muttered to himself.

“Come again?” Dean asked.

“I took a picture of the sisters’ prophecy when we were at their house.  This line “But tides change as do visions” I was assuming it referred to Rose’s power passing to Daisy and I still think so, but maybe it also refers to Daisy’s powers growing, changing.  I mean, she had all those visions the first day she had her powers, though I think that was because the danger was right there, about to happen.  But that could fit.”

Dean grunted.  For a hunter who had lived his life with the unexpected, Dean always took some time to adjust when he felt blindsided.  Add that to the fact that he still felt pretty raw over not knowing about the prophecy and Sam got why Dean was reacting like he was.  It probably wasn’t a bad thing the girls were sleeping so Dean couldn’t yell at them.

“It say anything about why they were acting like hyperactive toddlers who just ate a pound of candy?” Dean groused.

“Maybe that was the affect of the dream?” Sam ventured.  “I don’t know.  Hopefully once they wake up they’ll be able to explain it.”

“Ya, good luck with that” Dean snorted.

“You know we should probably fill Bobby in on all this” Sam said.

Dean gave a sigh.  “Ya, we should.  I’ll do it” and he pulled his phone from his pocket and wandered off to walk through the bunker as he talked.  Sam hoped Dean would calm down a bit before the girls woke up.  Maybe talking it out with Bobby would help.  Sam turned his laptop on to look up astral projection and see what he could find.


	22. But Hey How’s That My Fault

A short time later Sam heard a noise in the doorway and looked up to see a drowsy looking Lily standing there, eyeing him nervously.  Sam smiled at her reassuringly and Lily returned the smile.

“Hey sleepyhead” he said softly.  Lily came over and climbed onto his lap, catching him a bit off guard.  Lily wasn’t a big comfort seeker, tending to be the one who did the comforting instead.  This was a rare turn of events and Sam found he quite liked it, especially as it was him she had sought out.  Sam wrapped his arms around her and placed a kiss to her temple.

“Are you mad?” she asked softly, looking up at him from under her lashes.

Sam shook his head.  “No, though I’d steer clear of Dean for a little while if I were you.”  He brushed her hair back from her face.  “Are your sisters still sleeping?”  Lily nodded.  “What was all that, Lil?  Did you all know what you were doing?”

Lily shook her head.  “No, not really.  Rose asked Daisy if she thought she could show us her dream.”

“Why would she think Daisy could do that?” Sam asked.

Lily shook her head.  “I don’t know.  You’ll have to ask her.  She suggested it and it worked out even better than we imagined.  I never thought we would end up in her dream.”

“Ya, that was…interesting” Sam said.

Lily laughed.  "We were all a little punch drunk in there.  It was like all our emotions were heightened and everything Rose and Daisy were feeling I could feel too.  I've never experienced anything like it."  She leaned her head back to rest on his shoulder.  "I'm glad you got to see it."

Sam enjoyed this softer side of Lily, that wasn't often on display.  He thought the sexy-as-hell tough girl she was most of the time was wonderful too, but it meant a lot to him that she trusted him enough to let down her guard with him.

"Me too, though I didn't get to experience it quite like you did" Sam said.

"Daisy said that was her in the future in the dream.  And Cas.  It's how she knew who he was" Lily said.  "That's weird, right?"

"Lily, we were just walking in your sisters' dream.  Weird has a whole new meaning" Sam laughed.

Lily joined in the laughter.  "Ya, I guess it does."  She looked around.  "Speaking of Cas, where is he?"

"Oh, he hightailed it out of here.  Between the dream and his reaction to Daisy, he's pretty freaked out."

Lily nodded, then laughed softly.  "Damn, that says a lot about the women in my family.  We scare angels off.”  She gave Sam a sideways glance.  “Sure you’re up for handling me, Sammy?”

Sam smiled at her and squeezed her waist.  “Oh easily, Lil, like I was born to do it.”

 Lily smiled at him, liking his response.   Then she frowned.  “And Dean's upset?"

Sam sighed.  "Dean still isn’t over not knowing about the prophecy in the first place.  Knowing Dean, today was just rubbing salt in the wound."

"So why aren't you freaking out or pissed off?"

"Because I'm perfect, obviously" Sam said raising an eyebrow.

"Sam" Lily complained, smacking his shoulder.  "Seriously."

Sam grinned, then sobered.  "I don't know, I guess I know what it's like for your family to keep secrets to protect each other." He looked thoughtful.  "And I know what it's like to have powers you can't control.  I guess if I felt like you all had planned to blindside us with that it would be a different story."

Lily stroked his face softly.  "Ok but Dean should understand the family secret stuff" Lily said. "It kind of makes him look like a hypocrite for being mad at Rose for doing something he's done." She paused. “And would do again.”

"And he knows that.  But Dean's great at "Do as I say, not as I do." Sam gave her a level look.  "Most first borns are."

"Hey!" Lily smacked his shoulder again.

"You're going to tell me there's nothing you've done that you'd be upset if Rose or Daisy did?" Sam asked with a raised eyebrow.

Lily thought about it.  "Ok, ya, there might be a few things." Sam grinned.  "Quit being so smug" Lily mumbled, snuggling against his chest.  "I'm gonna smack your stupid brother if he's mean to Rosie"

"You already did that, remember?"

Lily laughed.  "Oh that's right.  I did.  And I'm totally not sorry now."

"Lil, cut him some slack" Sam said.

"Why should I?" Lily said, grumpily.  She was irritated with him to begin with for interrupting her and Sam's fun earlier. He had horrible timing…

"Because he's not me and you're not Rose.  They're different people than we are and they're gonna react differently." He gave her a wide grin.  "Besides it’s really not fair to expect him to be as perfect as I am, now is it?"

Lily snorted then tugged on Sam's hair.  "Obviously not."

"Hey guys" a soft voice said from the doorway.  They both turned their heads to see Rose standing there.

"Hey Rosie," Lily said.  "You ok?"

"Mmm hmm" Rose said, looking around.  "Do you have any idea where Dean is?"

"Um, ya, you might want to be prepared that he's not-"

"-Going to be overly happy with me." Rose finished Sam's sentence for him.  "Ya, I figured as much.  But I need to see him.”

“You might want to give him some time to cool down” Sam advised but Rose shook her head, determined to see Dean now.  Sam looked at Lily, wanting to get her take on it.  She shrugged and Sam sighed.  "My guess is he's in the garage.  When he's upset he likes to work on the Impala."

"Can you take me there?  I have absolutely no idea how to find it."

"You two go" Lily said, standing up.  "I'm going to go wake Daisy.  I want to hear what else she has to say about the dream tripping."

"If you wait till I get back," Sam said "I'd be interested to hear that too."

* * *

As Sam and Rose neared the garage they could hear music coming from behind the closed door.  Dean was obviously in there.

“Thanks, Sam” Rose said, stopping at the door, and shooting him a grateful smile.  “This place is huge.  I feel like I need a map.  Or a tour guide.”

“Well I’ll show you around whenever you want” Sam said.

“Unless you’re busy with my sister in your bedroom, right?” Rose teased and laughed as Sam blushed. Unlike his brother, Sam blushed easily, which Rose found endearing.

Sam rubbed the back of his neck nervously.  “Ya, uh, try and just ignore my brother if he’s an idiot, ok?  He tends to speak before he thinks when he’s upset.”

Rose nodded, feeling nervous at the thought of facing Dean.  She knew he was upset and she understood why.  She just hoped he gave her a chance to explain that this all had just happened.  She really didn’t want to fight with him.  She gave Sam what she hoped was a brave smile and pushed the door open to the garage.

Music was pouring out of a radio, Aerosmith wailing away about dreaming on, as Rose walked down the center of the room. The room was much larger than she had expected it to be, with room for several cars and motorcycles.  There were some vehicles there that she assumed had belonged to the previous inhabitants of the bunker (They certainly looked old enough to.), along with Lily’s car and the Impala.  The last one led her to Dean, who was currently leaning over, tinkering with something under the hood.  Normally Rose would have taken the time to stop and enjoy that sight but today she didn't even pause.  Between the music and how engrossed he was in what he was doing Dean didn’t hear her approach.  Not wanting to startle him Rose went over and turned the radio down (Which had a tape deck, did they still actually make those?) which caused Dean to raise his head.  Stormy green eyes met hers and if Rose had any doubt before about how upset he was, she had her answer now.  She almost turned and just walked out.  She had a bad feeling that this wasn’t going to go well.

Rose didn't hold his gaze for very long, instead looking down at the Impala.  "You're mad" she said softly.

Dean snorted.  Rose waited, assuming there would be a follow up comment.  When none came she looked up to find he has gone right back to work under the Impala's hood.

"I'm sorry, Dean" Rose said, "None of what happened up there was planned."

That got him to straighten up and look at her again, though Rose was beginning to wonder if that was a good thing.  He was staring daggers through her.

"Which part?"

"All of it" Rose said firmly, wanting there to be no uncertainty.  Dean went on as if he hasn't heard her.

"The part where you and Daisy had some conversation no one else was allowed to hear?  Or the part where we all wound up in some dream world that you and your sisters seemed all too happy to be in?” Rose saw Dean’s jaw clench in anger.  “Or the part where you three all ignored everyone else and just skipped on down the path to a destination that only you all knew?"

"All of it, all those parts.” Rose waved her hand emphatically. “We had no idea any of that would happen."

"Ya well, forgive me if I don't believe you."

Rose's eyes widened.  "You think I'm lying?"  She reminded herself that Dean was still getting over his anger and hurt over the prophecy.  She tried to tamp down on her rising irritation at his attitude and tone. 

Dean spread his hands in front of him. "Hey, if the shoe fits."

"Why would I lie?"  She only got a disinterested shrug in return. "That's not fair, Dean"

"Oh you want to talk about fair?  What about any of that was fair?" Dean wiped his hands on a rag he had nearby and then threw it away angrily.  "Did any of you ask before you just hijacked us into that dream?"

Rose took a deep breath, trying to keep her temper in check.  Sam had been right.  She should have waited.  She didn't want this to dissolve into a screaming match.  She also knew her own temper and really didn't want to lose it, especially not with what had happened with her mother that morning.  Out of the corner of her eye she saw a toolbox start to vibrate and decided it was probably time to make an exit.  This wasn’t going anywhere good anyway.

"I didn't come down here to fight with you.  I came down to say I was sorry and to try and explain." And with that she headed for the door.

Her calmness irked Dean.  He would have much rather she had yelled back at him so he could have felt more justified in his anger.

"Well isn't that mature of you" Dean said in his most sarcastic tone.

Despite her best intentions, Rose turned at the door and gave him an irritated look.  She watched a lone wrench jump out of the toolbox and hit the floor near Dean's foot, causing him to jump.  "I figured one of us should be."

Dean watched her go silently, knowing he was screwing up, but unable to stop himself.

* * *

The two things that truly comforted Rose when she was upset were books and food.  If she went to the library (Which oh, she wanted to.  She had only gotten a glimpse of it, but it looked glorious.) she would most likely run into someone there.  They would want to talk and she didn’t want that right now. Right now she just wanted to be left alone.  So she slipped to her room and got her iPod and headphones and headed for the kitchen.  She blasted her music for her ears only and rummaged through the cupboards till she found everything she needed to make macaroni and cheese.  Today called for comfort food.

As she waited for the pasta to cook her mind wandered to where it usually did when she was upset; her dad.  She was sure if he was here now he would have some words of wisdom for her that would make things easier to bear.  What those words would be, she didn't know.  What words covered finding out you had crazy powers you were struggling to control, that demons wanted you for a bounty and oh ya, having a fight with the guy in your life?  She shook her head as Miranda Lambert crooned in her ear about gunpowder and lead.  She worked on the cheese sauce, mixing the different cheeses and cream together on the stove, adding the spices and stirring constantly.  This she could do.  All the other stuff, God, there had to have been a mix up somewhere.  She drained the pasta and then mixed the cheese sauce and pasta together.  Finding a large casserole dish she poured the whole mixture into it and covered it with breadcrumbs before putting it in the oven and setting the timer.  Looking in the freezer she found some frozen pie crusts, not what she would have usually used, but in a pinch they would work.  As Pink moaned about being sober in her ear, she chopped up apples then coated them in spices before putting them into the crust.  She checked the timer.  The Mac and cheese had 15 minutes left to cook then the pie would need to go in for 45 minutes.

Rose sighed.  This had all sounded so good when she had started making it, but now she didn't want any of it.  She sent Lily a quick text, saying dinner would be ready in 15 minutes and gave her instructions for baking the pie.  She got a reply almost instantly.

_Aren't you eating dinner with us?  What happened with Dean?  Can I kick his ass?_

Rose grabbed a bottle of water and the rest of the ice cream pint she and Daisy had been eating earlier.  Not the healthiest dinner but also not the worst thing in her day.

_Nope, I'm going to soak in the bath and then go to bed.  Nothing happened.  Just leave it, please._

_You ok?  Want a bed buddy for the night?_

_I'm fine, just tired.  Been a long day.  Na, you and Sam enjoy your time together.  Make each other happy.  :) Have fun._

As irritated as she was with Dean, she couldn’t help sending a quick text to Sam.  If she sent it to Lily she knew she’d be irritated but she figured Sam would handle it ok.  He’d been on the receiving end of her care taking texts before.

_Can you make sure Dean eats something, please?_

Rose entered her room, kicked off her shoes and greeted Sookie, who was happy to see her.  Digging her iPod dock out of her (as yet unpacked) bag she set it up in the bathroom so she could sing along while she soaked.  Stripping the rest of her clothes off she ran the water in the tub and happily sank down into it, letting the water envelope her.  Sookie came and sat on the counter.  She finished off the ice cream while in the bath, singing along to all the various songs that played while she was in there, her random odd taste in music, that Lily loved to tease her about, showing.  "Ice cream is awesome, Sook" Rose informed her cat.  "And music.  Everything else sucks."  Sookie regarded her seriously, then jumped off the counter and headed back into the bedroom.

Getting out, Rose dried off, changed into an oversized t-shirt, ("I love Dick Casablancas" it declared.) fed Sookie and climbed into bed.  She turned off her bedside lamp and waited for Sookie to join her.  Then she closed her eyes, ready for this unbelievably long, eventful day to be over.  And if she cried a little into her pillow, no one but Sookie knew.


	23. So I Walked Right in Barehanded

A short while later, while Lily went off to his room with a grumble (She wasn't Dean's biggest fan right now.) Sam headed down to the garage with a plate of food and a beer for Dean.  If it hadn't been for Rose asking him to, Sam would have left Dean to his own devices.  But she _had_ asked, so he went off to feed his grouchy brother.

He entered the garage to find Dean underneath the Impala, changing the oil from the looks of it.  Sam figured he was running out of things to tinker with and pretty soon may wind up moving onto Lily's car.  He walked over and kicked one of Dean's legs.  "Hey, I brought you some dinner."

Dean wheeled out from under the car, a grease covered mess.  "Let me clean up."  And he went off to the small bathroom to rinse some of the grime off.  He came back and took the plate and beer from Sam.  "Thanks."

"Oh, don't thank me" Sam said.  "It wasn't my idea."

Dean stopped, the fork on the way to his lips.  "Rosie?" He asked and when Sam nodded he wasn’t surprised to see a flash of guilt cross Dean’s face. Dean started eating again and then asked.  "How is she?"

Sam shrugged.  "I haven't actually seen her since she came down here to see you.  She made dinner and went to bed.  She sent me a text asking me to make sure you ate something." He paused then added "She made pie too, but I didn't bring you any.  You want some of that, you can come get it yourself."

"So is this where you give me the "Dean you're being a jerk" speech?" Dean asked, before taking a swig of his beer.

Sam shrugged.  "Do I really need to?"

Dean took another bite from his plate and shook his head.

"So you know you're being an idiot?" Sam queried.

Dean glared at his brother.  When Sam didn't budge Dean sighed.  After a minute he relented.  "Ya," he ran a hand through his hair, "But damn it, Sam, I was just so frustrated and pissed off.  I felt totally blindsided by all that crap and they were skipping around, having the time of their lives, like little deranged lunatics.  It felt like they were making total fools of us, like they had this all planned and it was just one big set up."

“First off, let’s be honest, Dean.  Lily and Rose could make fools of both of us, easier than we want to admit.  They're women we care about." He paused then added “Probably way more than either of us want to admit.”

Dean nodded.  "OK, ya, that’s true."

“And what would they gain by lying?  What would be the point of some elaborate setup like that?” Sam shook his head.  “I get you’re pissed about Rose not telling you about the prophecy but that aside, we have a long history with the whole family, where they have been nothing but honest and kind to us.  You’re letting one incident color the way you see everything.”

Dean ate a little more food then mumbled, “Ya, I know.”

Sam nodded, hoping Dean had gotten his point.  "Did Rose explain what happened?"

Dean started intently at his plate and mumbled something Sam didn't catch.  "What was that?"

Dean cleared his throat and said "I didn't really give her a chance."

Sam stared at him a second then said "Well that plan obviously worked out brilliantly for you both."

Dean gave a bitter little laugh and finished off his dinner.  Sam stared at his brother thoughtfully, trying to decide the best way to handle this.

"You're not going to bitch me out?" Dean asked, looking up and taking another sip of his beer.

Sam shook his head slowly.  "No, I'm going to assume you have the good sense to make this right tomorrow." He paused.  "And if you don't, you might want to steer clear of Lily."  Another pause.  “Actually you might want to anyway."

That got a small smile out of Dean.  "Ya, I bet."  Lily was a fierce force to be reckoned with if you messed with someone she cared about, something Dean could relate to.

"I kind of feel like I need to point this out though” Sam said, running a hand through his hair.  “You said you felt blindsided by what happened today.  Well Rose has been constantly blindsided the past few days by these new powers.  Her whole world has been turned upside down in less than a weeks’ time." Sam paused, then added “And today, after yet another crazy episode happened, you made it worse by acting like an asshole.”

Dean nodded and finished off his beer.  "You're right. I really fucked up, huh?"

Sam shrugged.  "Well it wasn't your best moment but luckily Rose knows what an idiot you are anyway."

Dean chuckled.  "I thought she was going to hit me with a wrench at one point."

"Ya, fighting with your girlfriend who can move things with her mind in a garage?  Probably not the best idea." Sam grinned evilly.  "Imagine the damage she could do to the Impala if you really pissed her off."

Dean paled visibly.  "Not funny, Sammy."

Sam chuckled then sobered.  "Seriously Dean, just talk to her.  Hear her side of the story.  You guys are good together.  You make each other happy and that's nice to see for a change."

Dean nodded.  "Ya, thanks." Then he grinned at Sam.  "Since when did my little brother get to give me advice on women?"

Sam stood up and grinned.  "Since I have one waiting in my bed upstairs for me and all you have waiting is an empty bed." With that comment Sam left his brother and headed upstairs to Lily.  Hopefully she was still awake and they could take up where they left off earlier...

* * *

Dean made his way to the kitchen, the allure of freshly baked pie too much to resist.  He found the half eaten pie and cut himself a large slice, sitting down at the counter to eat it.  It smelled wonderful and tasted like heaven.

As Dean sat eating his pie he let his mind work over the day.  When he’d spoken to Bobby earlier he’d said he was still working on locating a witch to help them with the counter spell on Erin, so they were in a holding pattern there.  He assumed Sam had talked to Lily and probably Daisy too about the dream incident.  They would have to have a group meeting tomorrow to get all the details and see what they could figure out.

And then to Rose…Dean sighed.  He knew he’s messed up, that he had over reacted.  He should have given her a chance to explain, should have at least been willing to listen to her.  But he’d been stubborn and mad and had done all the things he had promised himself he wouldn’t do when he and Rose had gotten involved.  Not that he had any idea she would be living with him or that she would have powers or that he would be so invested.  He ran a hand through his hair and set his mind to figuring out how to fix this.  As much as he wanted to go curl up in bed with her right now he knew that wasn’t the right approach.  Sam had said to talk to her.  He could do that but he’d wait till tomorrow.  And maybe he’d make her breakfast…

* * *

Rose woke to a knock on her door and a way too cheerful voice calling out “Morning, Sunshine!”  She heard the door close and opened her eyes to see Dean standing by the side of the bed, holding a tray of food and smiling at her nervously.

“I’m mad at you” she said and pulled a pillow over her face.

She heard Dean chuckle.  “You never were a morning person.”  She heard him put the tray down on the bedside table and then felt him sit down on the bed next to her.

“No sane person is a morning person.  Mornings suck” Rose grumbled.

Dean slowly tugged the pillow off her face and Rose let him.  “I’m sorry” he said simply, looking her in the eye.  “Will you eat some breakfast?”

Rose gave him a half hearted glare, then nodded and sat up as Dean got off the bed and brought the tray to her.  Dean had made French Toast, which he knew Rose loved.  Rose smiled at him, despite still being irritated.  She hated making breakfast, hated even having to think about what to eat in the morning.  And no one had ever brought her breakfast in bed before.  Not that it was getting him off the hook but she needed to wake up properly before she could deal with anything serious.  Might as well eat some yummy French Toast in the meantime.  While she ate, Dean sat at the end of the bed, petting Sookie who had gone to him as soon as he sat down.

“That was really good” Rose said, finishing up.  “Thanks.”  Dean nodded and took the tray off her lap, then moved back to the end of the bed.

“We OK to talk?” Dean asked.

"Let me just brush my teeth" Rose said.  That was the only problem with syrup; you tended to wind up with sticky lips.

She brushed her teeth quickly and came back to the bed, catching Dean checking out her legs.  He realized she had caught him and he grinned.  "I like the shirt."

Rose pulled the blankets back up over her legs.  "You would" she said returning his grin.

Dean turned serious then.  "I'm sorry I was a complete jerk.  I was mad and upset but I should have given you a chance to tell me your side of things."

Rose frowned.  “I understood you were upset, that it caught you off guard.  Trust me, it caught me off guard too.”  She shook her head.  “I was just surprised at _how_ angry you were.”

Dean ran his hand through his hair, nervously.  He wanted to explain but didn’t want to upset Rose or get into an argument.  “Here’s the thing, I don’t trust a lot of people.” Rose gave him a look that clearly said “Well duh!” and he smirked.  “Ya, I know, that’s obvious.  But I do trust you and your sisters.” He shifted uneasily on the bed. “So when all the sudden we were in this dream where you all seemed to feel completely comfortable and know what you were doing and Sam and I didn’t it felt like, well it felt like a setup.  I’m not saying it was” He hastened to add, seeing the look on Rose’s face.  “I’m just saying how it felt and I reacted to how I felt.  I’m not saying it was the right thing to do.  Obviously it wasn’t.  I’m just trying to explain why.”

Rose nodded, taking in what he said.  “And I’m sure on the backheels of you finding out the prophecy had been kept from you it really shook your trust in me.  I knew that.  As soon as I was with it enough to think straight I knew it would have upset you and that’s why I came to you.” 

“And I wouldn’t listen,” Dean said.  “Shitty behavior on my part, I know.”

“When we were in the living room, when Lily and Daisy and I held hands, it was like a wave of power washed over us.  My mind was pretty laser focused then.  I couldn’t think about anything except that maybe Daisy could show us her dream.”  She looked Dean in the eye, wanting him to see the truth in hers.  “I have no idea where that idea even came from.  It was just there.  I know I should have stopped and told you all what was going on but I couldn’t, Dean.  It was like I was swept up in a force greater than me, greater than all of us combined.”  She shook her head, still not quite understanding it.  “I know it sounds like a copout, saying it’s out of my control but so much of this is.  I’m sick of it, honestly.  But I’m sorry, because I know you got drug along on that wild ride without being asked.  That wasn’t fair.”

“Well fair kind of seems to have gone out the window in all our lives” Dean said, remembering what Sam had said to him.  “So next time something like that happens” Dean saw Rose shudder at the thought, “I’ll try not to take it so personally and act like such a jerk.”

Rose said “And I’ll take your little brother’s advice and give you some time to cool down.”  Dean raised an eyebrow in question and Rose explained. “Sam tried to tell me to give you some more time.  I guess I should have listened and waited for you to come to me, instead of coming after you.”

Dean nodded.  “If I had more time to myself I probably would have cooled off.  Not saying I wouldn’t have still been upset, but I probably would have handled it better.”  He patted her leg under the blanket, which slowly while they were talking had moved to lie against his side. 

“I think we should have goal for tomorrow to not wind up having some kind of relationship breakdown discussion on my bed” Rose said, then bit her lip, realizing what she had said.  She hadn’t ever referred to what they had as a relationship before.  She glanced up at Dean to find him smiling though and she breathed a sigh of relief.  That was a good sign.

“Sounds like a goal to me” he said, with a wink.  He cleared his throat then.  “One good thing did come out of all this though.”

Rose tilted her head to the side quizzically.  “Oh ya?  What?”

“Well I’m fairly certain if we had that argument in the garage a day earlier there would have been some major damage.” He couldn’t help the shudder that went through him at that image and Rose laughed.  “Let’s never have another argument in the garage, ok?” He asked anxiously.  Rose looked at him questioningly and he said “Sam painted a way too vivid picture of the damage you could have inflicted on Baby.”

“Oh ya, that would be bad” she said, then asked “So what, is Sam like our relationship counselor now?”

Dean shrugged.  “Seems to be.  Anyway” he said, getting back on topic “You’re obviously getting a lot more control over your powers.”

Rose nodded.  “I can feel it building now.  I think as long as I can keep somewhat calm I can manage it.”  She shrugged.  “I guess we’ll see.”

“Oh no, don’t downplay this.  This is awesome” Dean argued.  “This time yesterday you were causing a F4 tornado.  You’re definitely getting a handle on things.”

“Ya, let’s just hope some other crazy power doesn’t pop up to make our lives more insane” Rose muttered.

“Hey, I don’t think you’re getting this” Dean said, grasping her ankle and giving her leg a shake.  “This is huge.  I’m proud of you, Rosie.  You’re doing great.”

Rose blushed under Dean’s praise and looked down.  “Thanks” she said softly.  She glanced back up to see him watching her with a heated look in his eyes.  Just like that, with one look from him, she felt desire shoot through her.  How did he do that?

Dean reached out and tugged the blankets down, dragging his eyes over her legs, up her body.  He snagged her ankle and slowly pulled her so she was lying down and then he crawled up the bed towards her. Rose knew what it felt like suddenly to be a predator’s prey.  Her heart was beating a crazy beat, her skin felt warm and all her senses felt heightened.

"So we're going to play a little game, Rosie" Dean said, his voice husky.  He lay down so his body was pressed up against hers. 

"We are?" Rose asked, her eyes wide in her face.

"Mmm hmm " Dean murmured.  He leaned down and slowly brushed his lips against hers.  His hand reached out and snagged both her wrists suddenly and held them above her head.  "The rules are really, really simple.  You can't touch.  You have to lay back and just enjoy.  This is all about you and your pleasure.  Think you can do that?" His eyes were staring intensely into hers.  She wiggled her wrists, testing out how much wiggle room she had in Dean's grasp (not much at all) and found she liked the feel of his hand holding her wrists like that.  She nodded and Dean chuckled.  He'd caught how her breath had caught and how her pulse had jumped as soon as he's held her wrists.  She obviously liked this.  Good to know.

"Good girl" he murmured.  His lips moved over hers again, his tongue darting out to tease her and he loved the soft little sigh that got from her.  His free hand moved to stroke her neck, loving how responsive she was to his every touch.  If there was ever anyone who was meant to be touched it was Rose.  She reacted to even the slightest graze of his fingers and her whole body just came alive under his hands.  He moved his lips to her neck, licking and sucking till she was arching her back.  His hand stroked down to her breasts, circling one, then stroking the other and finally grasping a nipple which got a loud gasp from Rose.  His thumb brushed back and forth over one nipple and then the next, drawing soft moans from her every time.  His hand trailed down her waist, to her stomach, stroking as he went. Her t-shirt had risen up with her movements as he had touched her, leaving her pink panties visible to his roaming eyes.  His hand slipped down between her legs, stroking her softly, almost a whisper of a touch and she immediately thrust her hips into his hand.  He chuckled.  "Such a responsive little thing, aren't you?"

Rose opened her eyes to look at him and the lust in them was enough to make him catch his breath.  "You're driving me crazy."  She wiggled her hips, trying to get pressure where she needed it most.  "Please Dean".

"Patience, Baby.  It'll be worth it, I promise." He leaned close to her ear to whisper. "Be a good girl now. You wouldn't want me to have to spank you." He watched a shiver run through her and he smiled, loving that he knew the right buttons to push, the right words to say.  "Or maybe you would, but we'll save that for another time" and he winked at her.

“Tease” she murmured and he just laughed.

His fingers skimmed over her panties, stroking softly, and then a little firmer, drawing sweet little gasps from her and finally sneaking his fingers underneath the fabric.  First one finger and then two slipped inside her, stroking and searching for the spots to make her moan.  His thumb reached up slowly to circle and then press on that little bundle of nerves and her moaning became a constant thing.  He pressed his mouth to her neck, licking and sucking as his fingers worked their magic on her.  He pulled back to watch her face, loving the expressions flitting across it.  She had her eyes squeezed tightly shut, her cheeks were flushed and her lips were parted slightly.  She was writhing on the sheets and from the way she was tightening up he knew it wouldn't be long.  He leaned his mouth close to her ear.  "Come on Baby, that's it, come for me."  With a soft cry of his name she came, her body shaking as waves of pleasure washed over her.  Dean stroked her through it, loving the look on her face and that he was the one that put it there.  Slowly he drew his hand back and let go of her wrists as well.  She let out a breath slowly and stretched a happy, contented smile on her face.  She turned towards him then, opening her eyes and he immediately enfolded her in his arms.  The smile she graced him with was as bright as any sunshine he'd ever seen.  She reached up and kissed him softly.  "That was amazing."

Dean smiled.  "I aim to please."

Rose chuckled.  "Oh I'm pleased.”  She pulled back to grin at him then.  “And now what about you?"  She stroked down his stomach towards his crotch where his arousal was readily visible.

Before she could make contact Dean grabbed her wrist.  "Uh uh.  I told you, this was for you."

"Dean, that's silly.  Trust me, I appreciate it but there's no reason-"

Dean cut her off and put a finger to her lips.  "Was I not clear on the rules?"  Rose gave a begrudging nod of her head.  "Ok then.  No arguing with them now."

He removed his finger from her lips and Rose stared at him till he squirmed.  "What?" he asked finally.

"No" she said quietly.  There was no way she was letting him leave this room without making him feel half as good as he'd made her feel.  No way.  This had been a milestone in their relationship and it wasn't going to be one sided.  Knowing Dean like she did this was probably his form of penance for being a jerk last night.  Well nope, that wasn't how it was going to work.  She knew if he really didn't want to do this he would stop her and she would let him, but she so badly wanted to make him feel good too.

"What do you mean no?" Dean asked, looking at her curiously, as if he couldn’t believe she was arguing with him.

Rose pushed on his shoulders, rolling him to his back and without giving him a chance to argue she climbed on top of him, straddling his hips.  She smiled down at him, her hair a wild mess, her face flushed and a stubborn look he knew all too well in her eyes.  And damn, if she had ever looked sexier he couldn't remember it.  "I mean no, screw the rules.  You made me feel so good this morning and so happy." She moved her hips, rubbing herself against his straining, jean covered erection, pulling a moan from his lips.  And oh, yes, that felt so good.  Her sensitized flesh was rubbing against him in just the right way.  "But you know what makes me the happiest?"  She rolled her hips again, thrusting against him and getting a rhythm now.  "Seeing you happy.  And, Baby, there is no way you're gonna be happy walking around like this" A little thrust of her hips there, right on the perfect spot and she gasped, as he started moving with her now and she grinned at him.  "So we're just gonna take care of this for you."

Dean was staring up at her and she could see him having some kind of internal battle.   She rocked and rolled her hips just the right way, letting out a few soft moans as she hit the perfect spot.  She looked down at him and smiled.  "Come on, Dean."  Decision made, he let out a little growl and his hands grasped her hips.  His thrusts joined hers and they were moving against each other in a desperate rhythm, so quickly it took Rose's breath away.  She looked down at Dean, his eyes were shut tight, he was biting his lip and the look of pleasure on his face was stunning.  His fingers flexed on her hips, pulling her harder against him and she knew he was close.  She thrust against his hard, aching cock and let out a loud gasp as once again release found her.  She watched his face then, reveling in the pleasure she could see there.  His hands gripped her hips painfully, leaving bruises she was sure, to mark where he'd been.  A few more hard thrusts and he was moaning her name as he found his own relief.   He opened his eyes slowly to see her beaming down at him.  “Come here, beautiful” he murmured and he tugged her hand, pulling her down to lay on top of him.   He ran a hand over her hair then pulled her mouth to his.  They shared a slow, languid kiss then Dean pulled back and grinned at her.  “Damn, I’m glad you’re stubborn.”

Rose giggled.  “I think it’s one of my better personality traits” she said with a grin.

Dean lay there, holding Rose in his arms, thinking that this talking stuff out was going much better than he had hoped.  He looked over at Rose and could tell from the look on her face that something was on her mind.

“What?” he asked and Rose let out a little laugh.

“I was just thinking it’s amazing that in all the time we’ve known each other this is the first time we’ve ever done this.”

“Ya, well trust me, Princess, it’s not the first time your name has been on my lips when I came” Dean muttered, causing Rose to turn several shades of red.  Dean grinned.  He loved that she blushed.

“That was mean, Dean Winchester” she said, smacking his chest.  “Now I’m going to have that image in my head all day.”

Dean raised an eyebrow. “And that’s a bad thing?”

“It’s distracting” Rose said, with a pout. 

“Ya, well, you’re distract me all the time, Rosie, so that seems fair to me.”   Dean gave her a quick kiss then and said “I’m going to go get cleaned up and I’ll come back and get you, ok?”

Rose nodded and smiled, watching Dean leave the room with a spring in his step that hadn’t been there before.  The day was off to a good start.

 


	24. It's the Same Old You

Rose hummed to herself as she got dressed, putting on a cute little black flippy skirt that she happened to know Dean loved her in and a pink t-shirt (“Oi With the Poodles Already” this one declared.)  Her socks and sneakers matched the outfit perfectly and her hair went up into a sassy ponytail.  She smiled at herself in the mirror, deciding she looked as happy as she felt.  Sure, her life was still chaotic and things were messy but there was nothing like a good dose of endorphins to make a girl feel better.

Dean knocked on her door and came in a few seconds later.  He smiled at her and his smile blossomed into a grin when he saw what she was wearing.  He was just about to close her door behind him when Sam’s voice carried down the hallway saying “Hey Dean, can you guys not be in there forever please?  I want to get all these facts down.”  Dean rolled his eyes and purposely slammed the door behind him.

“Sam wants us to get together to get everyone’s take on yesterday” Dean said, coming towards her.

Rose nodded.  “That makes sense.”  She gave her ponytail one more brush, then turned to Dean with a smile, wrapping her arms around his neck.

“You look awesome today, Baby” Dean said, leaning down and kissing her lips quickly.  His eyes strayed to her neck then.  “Um, ya, sorry about that.”  Rose glanced in the mirror at the mark showing up vividly on her neck.  If she pulled the neckline of her t-shirt up it didn’t show but if it slipped at all it could easily be seen.  She shrugged.  She didn’t care, though she was sure it would cause some teasing.

"I'm not" she said, grinning impishly at Dean.  “I haven’t had a hickey since I was in high school.”

Dean pulled her ponytail.  “You still look like you could be.”

“I kind of feel l like I am today” She said, and then clarified when Dean looked at her questioningly.  “I feel good today, happy.  It’s nice.”

“Give a girl an orgasm and-” Rose cut Dean off holding up two fingers. “Oh excuse me, _two_ orgasms and look how she shines.”

She leaned towards him to say softly “You’re kinda shining too, mister” and she gave him a wink.  Dean couldn’t help but laugh.

Dean smiled, leading Rose out of the room with a hand on the small of her back.  He knew it sounded like a cliché but Rose was practically glowing.  It was the happiest he had seen her since this whole mess had began.  The fact that he was the reason made Dean feel amazing and the fact that he felt great himself was just icing on the cake.

They walked into the dining room to find it empty.  "I bet they're in the library" Dean said, steering Rose that way.

"Oh great!  I still haven't really gotten to spend any time in there."

Dean grinned behind Rose's head.  Her enthusiasm was adorable.  He didn't get the excitement over books but if it made her happy he was all for it.

They found Sam, Lily and Daisy all sitting at a table in the library.  Sam and Daisy looked to be researching on one side, while Lily sat on the other and wasn't even trying to pretend; she was playing Candy Crush on her phone.  She looked up when they entered and Rose could see the struggle on her face.  Obviously Rose looked happy but Lily still wasn't sure she was over Dean's jerky behavior.  In the end she settled for a smirk at the mark on Rose's neck and went back to her phone.

Sam looked up from his book then.  "Oh good, you guys are finally here." Dean could tell from the quick once over Sam gave them that Sam was trying to figure out if they were ok.  When his eyes reached Rose's neck they widened slightly then he smiled, but said nothing. Dean meanwhile led Rose to the seat next to Lily and sat on the other side of her, across from Daisy.  Sam leaned over and nudged Daisy who had headphones on, as per usual when she was researching.  While Daisy pulled her headphones off, Sam pulled out a notebook and pen, ready to get down to business.

Lily leaned over to Rose and whispered loudly.  "Sam started an official Men of Letters journal about us.  Ya know, 'cause we're supernaturally important."  She smirked at Sam when he glared at her.

"It's about the prophecy" Sam clarified “and obviously how it pertains to you three, your powers, the outcome and reactions..."

Dean sighed loudly.  Holy crap, they were going to be here forever.  Yes, he wanted the details of yesterday but Sam was going to draw this out, getting every last detail down.  Dean leaned back in his chair, propping his legs up on the edge of the table.  Oh bonus!  From this angle he had a great view of Rose's legs.

Ignoring his brother Sam opened the journal and got started asking questions.  "Ok so how about we go back to the first minute you three were all in the library together.  You all grouped together.  Was that a purposeful decision?"

"Huh?" Daisy said, not getting what Sam was asking.

"I mean what made you three decide to stand together" Sam explained patiently.

"I don't know, we just did" Daisy said.  Dean laughed softly.  If Sam thought this was going to be easy he was sadly mistaken.

"You and Dean stand together a lot" Lily pointed out, clicking away on her phone.  "Do you decide that before hand?"

"No of course not" Sam said, realizing this line of questioning wasn't working.  “Lily, can you put your phone down?” Sam asked with an irritated look.  With a dramatic sigh Lily clicked her phone off and placed it down on the table, earning a smile from Sam.  “Thank You” he said.

"Ok what about when you touched each other?" Sam asked.

"Ya that sounds highly inappropriate" Lily said and Dean let out a snort.  Sam and Lily in a library together was comedy gold.

"I felt warm" Rose said suddenly, causing everyone to look at her. "I felt this warmth and power flowing and just felt I had to connect with you both."  She looked at her sisters in turn and they both slowly nodded.

"Had you ever felt anything like that before?" Sam asked, making a note in his notebook.

All three girls shook their heads.

"What happened next?" Sam urged.

"We all touched shoulders and the warmth and the power seemed to spread through us" Rose said. She looked at her sisters and they both nodded in turn.

“Base, Spark and Vision” Lily said suddenly, looking at her sisters.

“What?” Sam asked, looking up and that got Dean’s attention as well.

“Base, Spark and Vision” Lily repeated and her sisters nodded.

"Is this some kind of code?" Dean asked. "Some sister thing I'm not getting?"

Lily shook her head.  "When we were touching those words all came to us.  I had forgotten about it till now.  I know that sounds weird but that whole episode was like a bad acid trip."

"Ok and it means…"Dean made a hurry it up motion with his hand.

"I'm the base" Lily said

"I'm the vision" Daisy piped up

"I'm the spark" Rose said softly.

Sam was scribbling furiously in his notebook.  "Ok aside from knowing what you all are, do you know anything else?" He asked eagerly.  Dean rolled his eyes.  Sam was in his element here.  Dean just wanted to know how to keep Rose safe and figure out just what in the hell was going on but Sam was all about the research.  He actually enjoyed it.

The girls just looked at Sam, not really seeming to know much more until Daisy said “Well I think mine is obvious.  I have the visions.  And Lily is our base because she has the strength.  Rose had the idea that I could show them my dream and when we were there my power felt stronger.  I think Rose did that. She's the spark."

“I made you stronger?” Rose asked, not seeming to have any knowledge of this.

Lily was nodding along with Daisy.  “Ya, I felt stronger too in the dream.  That’s why I could push your boyfriend around.” She smirked at Dean and he flipped her off.  Lily just laughed.  “And ya, it came from you, Rosie.  I don’t know how I know that, but I do.”

“So basically Rose is the charger for the sister battery pack” Dean said, succinctly.

Sam nodded.  “It’s called power augmentation.”

“And you know this how?” Dean asked.

“Because while some of us were sulking, others of us were researching” Lily said smugly.

Dean laughed.  “I’ve seen you research, sweetheart, if you can call it that.”  He motioned to her phone.

“Hey guys, stop” Rose said, giving them both a look before Lily could reply.  Lily folded her arms and sat back in her chair with a sulk while Dean just gave Rose a winning smile.  Rose looked at Sam and rolled her eyes and he gave her a commiserating look.  Whoever thought that the oldest kids were the more mature had never met these two.

Sam cleared his throat and continued “With you, Rose, this power seems to be directly linked to your sisters.  I don’t think it would work on anyone else, though it would be interesting to see if it did.  But I think the three of you and your powers are so strongly linked I would be surprised.”

Rose nodded.  That made sense to her.  They were all part of the prophecy so it didn’t surprise her their powers were linked.

“How did you know to ask Daisy about showing you her dream?” Sam asked, pen poised and at the ready.

Rose frowned and shook her head.  “I have no idea.  Once we were together it just came into my head.”  She scrunched her nose up like she was thinking hard.  “It was like it was the most logical, obvious idea in the world.”

Daisy was nodding.  “Ya, you said it like that.  “Daisy, why don’t you just show us your dream you had about Cas?” And it didn’t seem weird at all to me.” Daisy frowned.  “Which is really weird.”

“OK wait” Lily said “We keep calling it a dream, but Daisy, you said it was in the future.  So was it a dream or a vision or something else?”

Daisy frowned.  "It's in the future, I know that for sure.  It feels..different than any other dreams or visions I've had.  I don't know how or why but it does."

Sam made some more notes then asked "OK when you were in the dream, you all were acting-"

"Like brats on a sugar high" Dean said.

"Ya, thanks Dean" Sam said, shooting his brother an annoyed look.  "You all were acting oddly.  What was going on?"

"We all felt excited that it worked and everything that they felt-" Lily gestured to her sisters "I felt too.  So it was a bit of an emotional overload."

"I felt drunk" Rose said.

Lily nodded.  "Or high.  It was intense."

“Ya, like happy wasn’t just happy it was over the top ecstatic" Rose added.

"And you knew where you were going, right Daisy?" She nodded. "But you two didn't?" He looked at Lily and Rose who nodded in confirmation. "Do you know anything else about the dream aside from what you showed us, Daisy?"

Daisy suddenly found the lid of her laptop fascinating.  "No" she said slowly.

Dean watched Daisy with interest.  She was so obviously lying but nobody else noticed.  Dean stored that information away for later.

"Once we all came back you all still felt the effects of the dream?" Sam asked.

"Oh ya" Rose said.  "It took awhile for it to wear off."

Sam kept writing things down and now that Dean had heard all the big details he was bored.  Glancing over at Rose he started dragging a pen up her leg.  When he got to the edge of her skirt she stopped him.  She leaned over and gave him a stern look (Which would have been more intimidating if she hadn't been smiling.) "Behave" she whispered.

“Don’t wanna” he whispered, giving her his most charming smile.  Rose gave him a half hearted glare and he stopped, resting his hand on her knee instead.

“It would be nice if we could talk to Cas about all this” Sam said, looking over his notes.  Daisy’s eyes got huge at that, Dean noticed.

“I’ll contact him and see if he’ll show later” Dean said, “But I wouldn’t count on it.  He was pretty freaked.”  Dean watched Daisy’s face when he said this.  There was so many emotions’ flitting across her face it was hard to separate them.  Dean saw fear, sadness and weirdest of all, acceptance.  There seemed to be a whole lot more going on with Daisy than anyone else was noticing.

Sam nodded.  "I think I've got everything now.  I would like to talk to each of you girls one on one at some point to get the details of your powers and solo experiences recorded in here."  He said tapping the notebook.

Lily gave a groan.  "Oh doesn’t that sound delightful.” She stood to her feet, obviously done with all this. “Ok can I go shoot something now?"

"Lily wants to check out the shooting range" Sam explained.

Dean perked up at that.  "Good idea."

Rose smiled and said "You guys do that and I'll stay up here and see what else I can dig up-" but Dean was shaking his head before she finished the sentence.  “What?” she asked, looking confused.

Dean looked at Sam.  “You guys go on down, we’ll be there in a second.”  Sam nodded and led Daisy and Lily towards the stairs.  Once they were gone Dean took a deep breath and turned to face Rose.

* * *

"He’s pushing her” Lily muttered to Sam as he led her and Daisy down the hallway.  She was still irritated with Dean and seeing him trying to get Rose down to the shooting range didn’t help matters.

“He’s not, Lil” Sam said. “She needs to do this.  You know that.” Lily started to argue and Sam cut her off.  “You can’t always be there to protect her.  What if you get knocked out?  Or aren’t around when she’s attacked?  She needs to know how to take care of herself.”

Lily didn’t want to admit that Sam made a good point.  This was her little sister and who was Dean to say he knew what was best for her?  Sam turned as they got to the gun range, seeing the look on her face.  He sighed and then motioned Daisy over towards a bench.  "Give us a minute, Days, ok?” Daisy nodded, pulling out her ever present phone.

Sam turned and pulled Lily into his arms.  He tipped her chin back and made her look at him.  “Look, my brother may be an idiot but when it comes to your sister there’s nothing he wouldn’t do for her.” Lily started to argue and he cut her off.  “Just listen.  I know he was a jerk yesterday and he’ll be a jerk again.  But they’re in a relationship and you’re going to have to let them make mistakes.  Yesterday aside, does he make her happy?” Lily nodded her head begrudgingly.  “Do you trust that he would take care of her?  Would do anything to keep her safe?” Again she nodded.  “Then Lily, and I’m saying this as a younger sibling, you have to back off.  You’re coddling her and it’s not helping.” Lily gave Sam an irritated look and started to pull away but Sam wouldn’t let her.  “No listen, I’m not being a jerk here, Lil, I’m just trying to make you see that Dean’s actually doing the right thing for Rose.” This time when Lily went to pull away Sam let her.  She stalked off to one of the stalls, obviously pissed at him and Sam ran his hand through his hair, wondering how he had suddenly become the bad guy.

* * *

“I’ve been meaning to talk to you about this since we left your place but things kept happening.” He took another breath and said “You don’t know how to fight or shoot do you, Rosie?”

Rose looked back at Dean steadily and he saw something flicker in her eyes, that he was pretty sure was fear. “I know to keep my keys out in a parking lot at night” she said and Dean muttered “Oh yes, so I’ve heard.”  He ignored Rose’s questioning look and plunged ahead. “Look, I get that before you could get by without knowing how to handle yourself in a fight ( _Keep your opinions on that to yourself, Dean_ , he warned himself.) but now, you just really can’t, Baby.”  He shook his head.

“Why not?  I have powers now.  I could just whap them” Rose motioned with her hand and a pen flew off the table.

“OK and what if there’s a witch involved?  They have all kinds of spells, could make your powers useless.”

"Well I have you and Lily and Sam.  You guys can fight.” Rose frowned when she heard herself saying that.  “Though I guess that’s kind of selfish, to expect you all to protect me.”

“It’s not selfish, Baby.  It’s just not practical.” He leaned in and kissed her forehead.  “I would love nothing more than you never having to worry about protecting yourself.  But the truth of the matter is we’re involved, right?” Rose smiled and nodded at that. “And I’m a hunter.  That attracts all kinds of bad things.  Even if you didn’t have powers you would need to know how to fight and at least shoot.”  He brushed a stray strand of hair away from her face.  “But with you having the powers you do and knowing that there are demons out there who want to get a hold of you it’s even more important.”

Rose frowned.  “I hate guns, Dean and I hate fighting.” She looked up at him then.  “And I’m really, really bad at both.”

Dean chuckled.  “I can teach you.  We’ll start with shooting and start some fight training in a day or two, ok?”

“You may regret that decision” Rose muttered, with a shake of her head.  She sighed then added “OK, I guess.  I really don’t want to though.  But I’ll try.”

“That’s my girl” Dean said, pulling her to her feet and kissing her.  “Don’t worry.  You’ll get the hang of it in no time.”


	25. It's Only Worth as Much as the Time Put In

An hour later Dean was completely re-thinking that statement.  Dean had taught quite a few people to shoot in his time but he'd never had anyone who was as hesitant and as uncomfortable as Rose was.  She touched the gun like she thought it was going to blow up in her hands, she flinched every time a bullet was fired and he kept having to remind her to open up her eyes when she pulled the trigger.  She did manage to get a few bullets on the sheet, though Dean was pretty sure that was more luck than anything else.  (She seemed to always bizarrely shoot the targets hand of all things, the few time she made it anywhere near the target.)

Dean patted her on the shoulder and told her it was a good start.  He could tell from her face that she wasn’t buying it though.  “I’ll go make lunch” she murmured, slipping out.  Sam and Daisy followed not long after, leaving Dean and Lily alone in the shooting range.

* * *

Upstairs Daisy had gone back to the library and Sam had followed Rose into the kitchen.

"So you and Dean are ok?" He asked, taking a seat at the counter.

"Mmm hmm" Rose said, with a little smile on her lips.  "How about grilled cheese and salad for lunch?"

Sam grinned.  "Dean won't touch a salad but I'd love one."

Rose nodded and started pulling ingredients out.  She put Sam to work chopping up salad components and started on the grilled cheese herself before returning to the conversation.  "Yes, we're good.  We talked." She was smiling as she answered and Sam wondered if she was even aware of how happy she looked.  Sam always thought of Rose as a generally happy person but this was something different, something more complete.

"Obviously you talked" Sam said, with a grin, nodding at her neck.

Rose laughed and blushed, brushing her fingers over the mark.  “I told Dean I felt like a teenager again."

"Well it's the happiest I've seen him since he _was_ a teenager so that fits" Sam said.

Rose beamed, knowing that Sam would know if his brother was really happy.

"So what's got Lily so upset with you?" Rose asked, getting a frying pan out and putting it on the stove to heat up.

Sam grimaced.  "Well, first I made her sit in the library."

"Equal to torture in her book" Rose acknowledged.

"And then I told her she had to back off and let you and Dean handle your relationship by yourselves."

Rose winced.  "Oh ya that went over well I'm sure."

"I'm pretty sure she's not talking to me" Sam confirmed.

"You look all broken up about it" Rose observed as she started buttering bread.

Sam shrugged.  "I don't like her being pissed at me but she'll get over it.  She knows I'm right and that's the main reason she's upset."

Rose chuckled.  "That's true.  Lily hates being wrong.  She always has."

"Dean doesn't like being wrong either, so I'm sure we can blame oldest child syndrome partly, but Lily takes it to a whole new level."

"Just like she does everything else" Rose said with a fond smile.  "That's Lily in a nutshell.  She's nothing if not extreme." Rose looked at Sam thoughtfully.  "You're the only guy I know that she's been with who doesn't seem to be intimidated by her intensity.  Most guys like the idea but the reality is a bit much."

"Oh don't get me wrong, she _is_ a bit much but I like it.  I mean first off, you never know what is going to come out of her mouth." Rose nodded with a laugh. "And she's just nuts.  She'll do stuff I would have never even thought of.  She’s pretty daring."

"Yep, always has been.  I think I got in more trouble growing up from doing stuff that Lily suggested.  And of course because she was my older sister I was horrible at saying no to her.  I wanted to impress her so badly."  Rose shook her head remembering some of their escapades.  Then she smiled at Sam, as she added cheese to the bread.  "Aren't we supposed to threaten each other at some point?  You know "Don't break my sisters heart or you'll regret it"?

Sam laughed.  "Are we?"

Rose nodded and then shrugged.  "Yes, though according to Dean we won't feel the need to because we're not the oldest."

"Aw yes, well that makes sense" Sam said with a roll of his eyes.

"You realize they're down there yelling at each other, right?" Rose asked, checking the pan to see if it was hot enough.

"Yep, but Lily promised no physical violence and I figure lunch won't take too long to fix so they won't have that long to get too worked up." Sam shrugged.  "Best I could manage."

"Then I better get these sandwiches going before there's bloodshed" Rose said, turning to the stove.

* * *

After a few rounds had been shot by both of them Dean glanced over at Lily, who was busy re-loading.  “You wanna talk?” he asked gruffly.  He’d seen how she’d been with Sam the last hour and figured if she could get out some of her anger she’s ease up on him.

Lily shot him a glare.  “I’m not supposed to yell at you or interfere, per your idiot of a brother.”

Dean grinned.  Yep, that sounded like Sam.  “Well hey, you can yell and I won’t tell him.  Come on, let it out” he said, taking a seat on the bench that ran along part of the wall.

Lily laid the gun down and turned to face Dean, leaning against the counter.  “Yesterday you were an absolute asshole to my sister, when she didn’t deserve it at all.”  Dean nodded, not denying it.  Lily started to pace.  “And I assume from the look of you two that you made things right.” Again he nodded.  “OK fine, great, though I’d still really like to kick you.” Dean felt a nervous chill at the look in her eyes and had to resist crossing his legs.  She _really_ looked like she wanted to kick him. "But I won’t.  I promised your pushy, bossy, domineering brother.” Dean grinned.  She was obviously really irritated with Sam.  “But you guys obviously worked it out, you’re good, Rose’s happy.  Then you have to push the whole damn fighting and gun thing.  Why?”  Lily was pacing and gesticulating like crazy.

“Because I had to.  She needs to learn” Dean said, not getting why Lily didn’t understand that.

“Do you see how bad she is?” Lily practically yelled, gesturing to the target Rose had been aiming at that was hardly touched.

Dean winced.  “Well ya, but it’s only her first day.  She’ll get better."

Lily was shaking her head.  “My Dad tried too, you know.  I told you he tried and she didn’t like it so he dropped it, which is true.  But she was also so bad it was scary.  I think my dad was relieved she didn’t want to continue.”

Dean ran a hand through his hair.  “Great.”  Dean threw Lily an irritated look.  “It would have been nice to know that fact ahead of time.  You guys suck at giving details.”

Lily shrugged.  “I honestly had forgotten how bad she was.  I just remember her hating it and whining a lot and my dad letting her quit. It's not like this happened yesterday, you know.  It was years ago.  Seeing her try to handle that gun today brought it all back."  Lily looked thoughtful.  "Knowing my dad he probably figured it was better for her to not even think she could defend herself than to try and get herself hurt."  She shrugged.  "He was a little over protective."

"Well thank God no one else in your family is like that" Dean said dryly.

"Ha ha" Lily said.

"Well she has to learn.  She's a target now." Dean thought about it.  "Or maybe she could just never leave the bunker again.  That may be the safer option."

Lily laughed. "Oh ya I'm sure that will go over well."

Dean chuckled.  "Ya, I'd definitely be getting hit with a wrench."  At Lily's confused look he said "Never mind.  Look the last thing I want is to see your sister hurt.  Can you just trust that I'm trying to do everything I can to keep her safe?"

There was a pause and then Lily said quietly "I actually do," surprising Dean.  "It's just a lot easier to bitch at you than to admit how bad a situation this is that she needs to be able to protect herself.  I've spent my whole life looking out for her and now, well I feel pretty helpless.  And that pisses me off like you wouldn't fucking believe."

"Oh ya, I would." Dean said.  He'd been there before with Sam.  Speaking of which... "Just don't take it out on Sammy."

“He’s bossy and pushy-“

“And so are you…and he’s just defending me, the same as you’re defending Rose” Dean said.

"Well I'm the one who was being tortured in the library" Lily protested.

Dean laughed.  "Sam does love research.  You girls have given him an early Christmas present."

Lily rolled her eyes then said.  "That's us, we're the gift that keeps on giving."

* * *

Once they had headed upstairs Lily found Sam in the dining room, putting a bowl of salad on the table.  She walked up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist, hugging him from behind, nestling her head against his back.

"Sorry I got so bitchy" she murmured and Sam smiled, turning to face her.  He leaned down and kissed her lips softly.  "Don't worry about it, Babe."

And just like that, Sam and Lily were OK again.

* * *

Over lunch Daisy mentioned she wanted to go see their mom, maybe spend the night.  Dean saw Lily's eyes light up at the idea.

"Let me check with Bobby first" Sam said cautiously.  After a phone call, during which Bobby said he thought that was a good idea and would do Erin a world of good and it was fine and safe as long as Rose stayed away, it was set.

As soon as Daisy left the room to pack her bag Lily looked at the other three and said "Game on!"

* * *

Dean offered to wash up after lunch and volunteered Sam to help him.  Figuring the boys wanted to talk Lily and Rose wandered off to the living room, though not before Lily warned them they had better not be prepping for the game.

"What do you think about taking the girls out for dinner and some drinks tonight, once we drop off Daisy?" Dean asked, washing a plate and handing it to Sam to dry.

Sam nodded.  "Might be nice idea."

"You think it's safe?" Dean asked and Sam could see the worry in his eyes.  “Taking Rose out where she can be found?”

Sam shrugged, putting the plate away in the cabinet.  "I mean, there's always a risk but I think as long as we stick together it should be ok."

"I just thought it might be nice for them to get out a little bit."

"Then let's do it.  It's been a pretty intense couple of days" Sam said.

Dean snorted.  "You're telling me.  And God, after that experience on the shooting range I could use a drink."

Sam laughed.  "Ya, you have your hands full there."

"You've no idea" Dean said and filled him in on what Lily had said, getting a groan from Sam.

"So obviously Rose already has it in her head she can't do this" Sam said.

"Which is going to make it all the harder to teach her" Dean said.

"You may have to get creative" Sam said.  "Come up with some other way of teaching her." He thought back to what Rose had said about wanting to impress Lily when they were growing up.  Some things didn’t change.  “Maybe you should do it without an audience too, just you and Rose.”

“You think?” Dean asked.

Sam nodded.  “Ya, if she’s already nervous about it, which God, she obviously is, then having other people watching her isn’t going to help.  Especially her big sister who is really good with a gun.”

“Makes sense.  Good idea, Sammy.”  Dean paused.  "Something else....when we were talking to the girls in the library, there's something Daisy isn't telling us."

“What do you mean?” Sam asked.

“When you asked her if she knew anything else about the dream?  She said no, right?” Sam nodded.  “She was definitely lying.  She knows way more than she’s telling.  I could tell from the look on her face.  And whenever Cas was mentioned her face was just chock full of all kinds of different emotions.”  Dean looked at Sam.  “She likes you.  Maybe if you can get her alone at some point she’ll tell you more.”

Sam nodded.  “I can try.”

Dean grinned at his brother.  “Now let’s go tell the girls we’re going out tonight!”


	26. My Step is Sure and I Know My Name

Sam knocked on Daisy’s door a bit hesitantly, hoping he could get her to tell him what she knew.  She answered quickly with a cheery “Come In” thrown out.  Sam pushed the door open and stuck his head in.  “Daisy?  Can we talk a second?”

Daisy looked up, surprised to see Sam at her door.  “Sure, Sam, come on in.  I’m just getting my stuff together.”  Despite the short time she had been there the room looked like a bomb had hit.  Clothes were strewn about, there were books on tables, makeup and hair products on the dresser and more shoes than Sam owned in his entire closet were cast about the floor.  Neatness was not something Daisy had ever really cared about.

Sam came in and took a seat on a chair in the corner.  He had to move clothes to sit down and he added those to the pile on the bed, next to the bag Daisy was currently packing her things into.  “What’s up?” Daisy asked, giving Sam a warm smile.

“I just wanted to ask you a bit more about your dream” Sam said, opening his pen and notebook. He figured things might go better if he didn’t immediately point out that he thought she was lying.  And honestly he hadn’t seen anything to make him think she was holding something back but Dean was certain.  And if there was anyone who could spot a lie it was Dean.

“What do you want to know?” Daisy asked, appearing open and willing to talk.

“Just some details” Sam said vaguely.  “Have you ever seen that park before that was in your dream?”

“Nope” Daisy said, cheerfully, folding a t-shirt and adding it to her bag.

“OK” Sam said, jotting something in his notebook.  “You said that was in the future.  Do you have any idea how far from now it is?”

Daisy smoothed down the layer of clothes she had in her bag.  “Not too far from now.”

Sam scribbled in the notebook, looking thoughtful.  “Is that the only dream you’ve had with Cas in it?” he asked.  After a few seconds of silence he looked up to find Daisy staring at her bag intently.  “Daisy?”

“Hmm?” She looked up slowly and Sam repeated his question.  “No, it’s not,” she said, picking up another piece of clothing.  Sam noticed idly it was a brightly sequined top and wondered where exactly Daisy had been planning on wearing that.  He had expected Daisy to elaborate but she remained silent, so she obviously needed some prompting.

“OK Can you _tell_ me about the other dreams you had with Cas in them?” Sam asked patiently.

“No” Daisy said simply, giving him a sad half smile and folding the sequined blouse and putting it in her bag.  All the openness that had been on her face before was gone.  Her eyes were shuttered and if her face was promoting any message it was one word: Closed.

“What?” Sam said, confused at her simple and not at all helpful answer.

“No” Daisy said again, moving onto the next piece of clothing on her bed.

“I don’t understand” Sam said, scratching his head.  “What do you mean no?”

“Sam, you’re a smart boy” Daisy said with a little grin.  “I’m sure no isn’t something you hear from girls too often but I’m pretty sure you do know what it means.”

Sam had a confused look on his face, feeling he had walked into this conversation ill-prepared.  “Do you mean, "No you can’t" or "No you won’t" tell me?” Sam asked.  Daisy simply shrugged in reply and Sam felt a surge of irritation.  “I’m not just asking for the hell of it, you know. The more we know, the more we can help, Daisy.”

Daisy stopped folding the jeans she had in her hands and sat down on the bed suddenly.  “I know you really think that, Sam, but in my case it’s just not true.  Focus on my sisters, OK?  Find out everything you can about their powers.”  She looked sad now and suddenly much less like the little girl they all still saw her as and much more like the woman she was becoming.  When had that happened, Sam wondered?

"So Dean was right when he said you knew more than you were telling" Sam said quietly.  Daisy nodded.

“I don’t understand, Daisy” Sam said again.

Daisy gave him a kind smile. "I know and that’s OK.  Just please trust me on this.  You know everything about my visions with Cas that you need to know for now.” Daisy said this as a fact, not a question.

“And you know this how?"

Daisy sighed.  “I just do, Sam and I really can’t tell you anything else.”

Sam sent a disappointed look her way, throwing in his best puppy dog eyes for good measure.  "Your sisters aren't going to like this."

Daisy ignored the puppy dog eyes, having mastered them herself almost at birth. "Are you actually threatening to tell on me?" she asked, an incredulous look on her face. "Sam, come on, isn't that a little bit childish?" Daisy cocked her head to the side, appearing to be thinking and for a moment she reminded Sam of someone, but before he could put his finger on who it was, she smiled and spoke again.  "You would do anything to protect Dean, wouldn't you Sammy?"

Sam nodded.  "Of course I would."

Daisy closed her eyes for a second and Sam felt oddly like she was listening to something in her head. She opened her eyes then and smiled at him again, nodding.  "Then please believe me when I say I would do anything for my sisters.  Please don't tell them about this conversation.  I didn’t come to this decision lightly.  I'm asking you to trust me.  This will keep them safer."

Sam just stared at her.  This was not at all how he expected this conversation to go.  He didn't know what to do now.  If he told Dean he would want to try to intimidate her into telling them the truth.  And looking at Daisy’s resolute face, Sam had the feeling that wouldn’t work.  It was easy to forget sometimes that these girls had been raised by a hunter.  They weren’t nearly as soft and fragile as they looked.  And if he told Dean and they didn’t tell the girls then Sam would be putting Dean in a situation where he had to lie to Rose, something they had dealt with enough lately.  Of course keeping this from Lily wasn’t going to win Sam any favors either.

With a glare thrown Daisy’s way, Sam stood and walked to the door.

“I’m sorry, Sam” Daisy said softly.  Sam didn’t reply, though he did believe she actually was sorry.  He left the room, heading for the lower level, figuring there was one person he could call.

* * *

_I need to see you now.  It’s about Daisy._

After sending the text Sam paced back and forth in one of the lower level store rooms.  He needed a place they wouldn’t be disturbed or overheard if this conversation actually happened.  Now he just had to wait.  Though apparently not very long, Sam thought, looking up.  Castiel was suddenly standing in the center of the room.  That last sentence had the desired effect.

“Is everything ok?  What’s wrong with Daisy?  I didn’t sense anything amiss.”

Sam blinked at that but didn’t pursue that just yet.  “She’s fine but I need to know what’s going on.”

Cas peered at him curiously.  “You said you needed to see me about her.  She’s not been harmed?”

“She’s fine” Sam reassured him again.  “But she’s been lying to us and I think you may know why.”

Cas’ body visibly relaxed at the news Daisy was ok, seeming to take in that information this time when Sam said it.  “Dean doesn’t know you called me?” He queried, looking around the room and not seeing the older Winchester there.

“No, he had a feeling she was lying but she only admitted it to me” Sam admitted.

Cas nodded.  “That’s good.  Dean not knowing for sure is good.”  He looked at Sam questioningly.  “What did she tell you?”

Sam ran a hand through his hair.  “It’s more what she didn’t tell me.  I asked if she had any other dreams with you in them and she said yes but wouldn’t tell me anything else and then said I knew all I needed to know.”  He laughed bitterly.  “It was one of the most frustrating conversations I’ve ever had.”

“She was right.  The knowledge you have on this matter is sufficient” Cas said.

“And quickly being rivaled by this one” Sam muttered.  “Look, you can’t just say that and expect me to not question what you aren’t telling me.  And why you don’t want us to know, especially her sisters.”

Cas walked to Sam and put a hand on his shoulder, fixing Sam with an intense stare.  “Her sisters cannot know any more than they already do.  That is of the utmost importance.”  The urgency in his voice was clear.

“OK you have to explain this” Sam said.  “Why can’t they know?”

“It would put them in danger” Cas said.

“What danger?” Sam asked urgently.  “If we knew what to look for, what to watch for, we could be prepared.”

Cas shook his head, regretfully.  “Knowledge won’t help this time, Sam.  I know how foreign that statement must sound to your ears but it is the truth.”  Then he peered at Sam intently for a few seconds before asking “You care for Lily, yes?” At Sam’s nod Cas continued.  “Certain things have to happen in a certain manner, for the greater good.  For the sister’s well being, what they know of Daisy’s visions now is all they need to know.  For the time being the less they know the better.  Things need not change.”  And without another word he was gone and Sam was left alone in the store room.

“Oh that’s just fucking great” Sam muttered.

* * *

A short while later all three sisters were in Rose's room.  Lily and Rose were getting ready for their big night out and Daisy was lying on the bed, petting Sookie and giving her opinion on their outfits.  She was as bubbly and giggly as ever, the serious, determined girl from the conversation with Sam earlier nowhere in sight.  Despite the fact the boys had stressed this was low key, nothing fancy, the girls were both excited to get out.

"I don't care if we're going to McDonalds" Lily said, applying mascara to her dark lashes.  "I just want to go somewhere."

Rose nodded.  Lily was never content to stay still for very long.  Tonight would be good for her.

Lily had changed into her favorite pair of skin tight jeans and a dark green scoop necked top that she knew she looked great in.  Rose meanwhile had gone for a short dark purple skirt and a matching floral top.  The colors suited her perfectly.

Lily was currently trying to talk Rose into wearing heels instead of her normal flats.

"Come on, Rosie" she wheedled "They'll look so sexy."

Rose shook her head.  “I don't like them, Lil" she said, eyeing the black pair Lily was wearing.  "I'd break my neck."

"Dean would catch you" Daisy piped up, then giggled.  "He'd probably like that."

Rose rolled her eyes at her sisters and then slipped into a pair of ballet flats.  She just wasn't the high heel type.

"You sure you don't want to go out to eat with us before you go to see Mom?" Rose asked Daisy.

Daisy smiled and shook her head.  "Nope, I'll have dinner with mom.  You all have fun though."

Rose nodded and went back to getting ready.  She brushed her hair out, leaving it down and loose, added a touch of makeup and was good to go.  She smiled at her sisters then.  "Come on, girls.  Let's go!"

* * *

A few hours later, Dean opened the bunker door for Rose, earning him a smile in the process.  After dropping Daisy off at the hotel (and checking that Bobby was doing ok) they had headed to the local bar and grill.  They're all had a good time, eating together, talking and laughing.

"Game time!" Lily cried, coming in the door after them, followed closely by Sam.  Lily had joined the boys in a few beers at the bar and was feeling good.

"Give me one second, guys" Rose said, heading towards her room.  Once in there she placed her purse on the dresser, checked on Sookie and took her shoes off, wanting to be comfortable.  She opened the door to find Dean standing on the other side, a wide grin on his face.

"Dean what are you-"

Instead of letting her come out Dean pushed his way into the room, closing the door behind him and pulling her into his arms.  His lips came down on hers in a searing hot kiss, his hands moving down her back to her hips, pulling her flush against him, causing a small whimper to escape Rose's lips.  He pulled back after a few seconds and smirked at her.

"I've wanted to do that all night.  You look hot" he said, with a little growl in his voice.

Rose blushed and smiled at Dean.  “You don’t look so bad yourself” she said, running her hands down his shirt.  “I like you in blue” she said.

“Duly noted” Dean murmured, leaning down for another kiss.  It quickly escalated, their breath getting short and their bodies heating up till Rose knew if they didn’t stop now they wouldn’t be leaving this room again tonight.  She pulled back regretfully.

“They’re waiting for us out there” she said.

“Let ‘em wait” Dean muttered, pulling her back to him and kissing her passionately while winding a hand in her hair and tugging lightly.  That got a soft moan from Rose which he promised to remember for later.

Rose kissed him back, unable to stop herself, just wanting more of this and more of him.

Finally a pounding on the door startled them apart.  “Hey!  Hormone addled teenagers!” Lily called from the other side of the door.  “Break it up and get out here!”  With a giggle they heard her walking back down the hall.

"You don't mind if I kill her, right?" Dean asked. "You have another sister.  This one’s replaceable."

Rose giggled and smacked his chest lightly.  "No killing my sisters.  We have to go now" she said, taking Dean’s hand in hers and dragging him out into the hallway. 

Dean rolled his eyes good naturedly but allowed Rose to pull him along, down to the living room for another round of their game.


	27. You've Got Your Friends

Dean and Rose found Sam and Lily setting up a mini bar in the living room.  As soon as they entered Lily handed Rose a pink drink.  “Vodka and pink lemonade” she said with a smile, nodding to a pitcher she had whipped up quickly.

Rose murmured her thanks and sitting on one of the couches, took a sip.  Her eyes widened as she tasted how strong it was.  There was obviously a lot more vodka than lemonade in this.  Dean and Sam each got a much less pink drink and Lily had made herself a pitcher of tequila sunrises.  Dean settled down next to Rose on the couch, placing a hand on her knee and Sam and Lily took one of the other couches, sitting next to each other with one of Sam’s arm wrapped around Lily.

“So game time!” Lily announced, sounding like an overly enthusiastic game show host.  “If I recall correctly we each had one strike in our previous round of….” She drew the suspense out, building the drama before announcing with a flourish “You Oughta Know!”

Rose blinked at her sister.  “Really Lily?  You went with an Alanis Morissette song for the name?”

Lily shrugged, looking pleased with herself despite her sister’s disbelief.  “I like it.  And it fits.  You oughta know these facts about your sister/brother!”

Sam kissed the top of her head.  “It’s a great name” he assured her and Lily preened while Dean rolled his eyes.

"So I believe it was my turn to ask a question" Lily said, putting her drink down on the coffee table and rubbing her hands together with enthusiasm.  "And the question is...what's the most unusual place your brother ever had sex?" Lily sat back on the couch with a grin.  Rose groaned inwardly then took another sip of her drink and winced.  This drink was _really_ heavy on the vodka.  She hadn't drunk at the bar as she was slightly concerned with how alcohol would affect her control of her powers.  At least if she got tipsy here it wasn't in public and no one was going to call the cops if things started spinning.

Rose glanced over at Dean to catch him frowning.  Oh looks like Lily might have stumped the boys on her first question! Then Dean snapped his fingers and grinned.  "Doctors office...you know on that siren case we had?"

Sam blushed.  "Ya, that one, definitely that one."  Lily was grinning, obviously enjoying getting the dirt.  Sam paused.  "God, how am I supposed to choose one for you?"  Dean grinned, then looked at Rose out of the corner of his eye to make sure this wasn't freaking her out too badly.  She was happily sipping her drink, so he relaxed.  Sam seemed to be racking his brain.  "I'm gonna go with a cop car."

"You had sex in a cop car?" Rose asked, her eyes wide.

"Ya, um there was a really nice receptionist at the station and she had a break just as I got released." Dean realized he was probably telling too many details and shut up.

“Wait, you not only had sex in a cop car but it was after you were arrested?” Rose asked, her amazement showing in her voice.  Dean nodded.  Rose didn't look bothered by it at all though.  If anything she looked impressed.  That was a good sign.

"Ok impressive Winchesters," Lily conceded.  "I'll give you both that."

"I know yours Lil" Rose said.  "It has to be the treehouse."

"Yep, hands down, that's it.  My 11th grade boyfriends’ family had a huge treehouse in their backyard" she explained.  "We would sneak up there at night.  I do remember being worried we'd fall out." Her grin suddenly grew as she saw Rose finishing her drink and standing up to get more.  She was surprised Rose hadn't killed her for asking this question.

"So Rosie....let’s talk about yours." Dean looked at Rose with interest.  Between Lily's tone and Rose's flushed cheeks something told Dean this answer was going to be good.  Rose was squirming in her seat now, her drink back on the table, not meeting anyone's eyes.  Lily put a finger to her lips, considering.  "I'm actually torn between two choices...but I'm going to go with the dirtier of the two."  She grinned evilly.  "Under the bleachers during a high school football game."

"No way!" Sam exclaimed.  Rose had her hands over her face now.

"Oh yes way!" Lily chortled.  “Shocking behavior for Saint Rose, right?”

"I kind of hate you right now, Lily" Rose muttered from behind her hands.  “I was young and really, really dumb.”

Lily laughed.  "Hey it's not my fault your little wild child stint involved a boyfriend with an exhibitionist streak."

Rose wasn’t ashamed of her wild moments; after all it was high school.  Everyone was dumb then.  But it wasn’t exactly something she bragged about either.  It was in her past and while she wouldn’t do the same thing now, she didn’t regret it either.  She just didn’t exactly want it on a t-shirt – “I had sex in highly inappropriate places with my high school boyfriend!” and she also knew it didn’t exactly fit with the image most people had of her.  Rose peeked out from behind her fingers, trying to see Dean's face.   He caught her looking and winked, causing her to draw a sigh of relief.  He leaned over and whispered "I'm beginning to think your naughty streak may be just a bit wider than I previously believed, Rosie" and he gave her a smirk.

She smiled back and reached for her drink.  She sipped it, feeling the pleasant buzz of the alcohol slip over her.  She was definitely feeling the effects of it now.  She felt pleasantly warm and snuggled against Dean’s side, earning a kiss on the top of her head from him.

Sam cleared his throat.  "I've got one.  How about the stupidest or craziest thing your sister did while drunk?"

Rose grinned.  "Insert the stripping story here."  Everyone laughed.  "As a bonus there was the time you decided to wake Mom up to tell her you were home, started crying on her and then fell asleep in her bed."

Lily groaned, leaning forward to re-fill her glass.  "Oh yes, that was after a big party.  Not my finest moment.  Mom was not amused."  She narrowed her eyes, thinking.  "Hmmm, for you it has to be something from the Danny era."

"Danny?" Dean asked curiously.

"The boyfriend during my um, wild period."

"The exhibitionist" Dean clarified.

"One and the same" Rose acknowledged.

“How come I never met this guy?” Dean asked.  “You had to be dating him at some point when I was around, right?”

Rose looked at Dean like he was crazy.  “Ya, no, that was never going to happen.” At Dean’s baffled look she continued “You thought it was a coincidence you never met any of my boyfriends over the years?” She could tell from his look the thought had never occurred to him.  Rose just rolled her eyes and turned back to Lily.

"Ok I need a minute here" Lily said, waving her hand in Sam's direction. "I’m struggling to come up with something.  One of you guys go."

Sam grinned suddenly.  "Oh Dean's is easy; Serenading the wrong girl."

"Excuse me?" Rose said, turning so she could see Dean's face.  He groaned and drug a hand down his face.

"Dean liked this girl in high school...where were we then, Iowa?"

Dean shook his head.  “Illinois.” 

“Right, Illinois.  So he gets drunk one night and goes over to her house to serenade her outside her bedroom window." The girls were giggling now.  "That's bad enough but he got the wrong window.  He was singing outside her parents’ room."  Everyone was laughing now, including Dean.

"Ya, her Dad threw the window open and he was full on pissed.  I got my ass out of there."

“What song?” Rose asked, curiously.

“Truly, Madly, Deeply” Dean admitted, looking embarrassed.  “She had a thing for the guys that did the song.”

“Oh this is perfection!” Lily exclaimed.  Dean rolled his eyes at her, figuring he would be hearing more about this in the days to come.  That’s fine.  He’d just remind her of her little stripping escapade.

“The only one I can think of for Sam is when he got drunk and snuck into his girlfriends room and then fell asleep there.” Dean grinned broadly.  “Her mom came in the next morning and started screaming.  Sammy had to climb back out the window half naked.”

Sam was groaning in embarrassment and everyone else was laughing.  “So what I’m gathering is that you two were every mother with a teenage daughter’s worst nightmare” Lily said.

Sam grinned at Dean and he nodded.  “Ya, pretty much.”

“Ya, that’s a shocker” Rose said, sending her and Lily back into peals of laughter.

“Well what about Rosie here” Dean said, nudging her.  “What dirt do you have for us, Lil?”

Lily was wearing a scowl.  “I’m totally failing to come up with anything.  You have to have some kind of embarrassing story, don’t you?”  Rose shrugged, giving nothing away.  “OK I give up” Lily said, throwing her hands in the air.

All eyes turned to Rose and she smiled and then shrugged.  “I don’t really have an embarrassing drunk story.  I didn’t drink much in high school and this,” She raised her glass in the air.  “This is the most I have drunk in years.”  She giggled.  “I already feel tipsy.”

Dean was grinning at her.  “What?” Rose asked but Dean just shook his head at her, grinning and muttering something about contradictions.

“OK, since we’re on the topic of alcohol…what kind of a drunk is your brother?” Rose asked.  “Happy?  Melancholy? Fill in the blank.”

“Sam’s a happy drunk” Dean said immediately.  “He’s like a big, dopey puppy when he’s had too much.”

Sam rolled his eyes at his brother but didn’t argue.  Lily grinned and reached up to pat Sam’s head.  “I like puppies” she said and giggled when Sam snapped at her fingers with a playful growl.

“Dean’s a mellow drunk…and flirty, though alcohol isn’t really needed for that” Sam said.  Dean grinned but didn’t deny his brother’s claim.

“Lily’s loud” Rose said “And very enthusiastic about everything.”

“I am not!” Lily said, loudly.  Then realizing how loud she was she lowered her voice.  “I’m not and besides, I’m not drunk right now anyway.”

Sam just grinned over her head at his brother.  Both girls were far from sober at this point.  Dean smiled back.  The Sullivan girls mixed with alcohol was a fun combination.  They deserved a chance to unwind after all the craziness in their life lately.  The fact that the boys got to watch their antics was just icing on the cake.

“So wait, Lily, are you saying Rose is wrong?  ‘Cause that would be a strike…” Sam teased.

With a pout Lily conceded.  “No, I guess I am a little loud when I’m drunk.”  Then she hastened to add, “Which I am totally am _not_ right now.”

“Whatever you say, Darling” Sam said, kissing the top of her head.

“Rose is definitely a happy drunk who talks a lot and loses all her boundaries” Lily said, filling her glass with the rest of the concoction left in her pitcher.

“But I’m happy anyway, Lily” Rose said, looking at her sister seriously.

“I know” Lily said, wrinkling her nose.  “That’s so annoying.  Why are you that way?”

“I don’t know” Rose said, frowning.  “I’ll try harder not to be.”

“Oh but you can be really mean if you get mad when you’re drunk” Lily added.

“I can be?” Rose asked, looking surprised.

Lily nodded her head.  “Remember with Danny?  When you bit him?”

“Oh ya” Rose said, nodding her head.  “I forgot about that.”

Dean cleared his throat.  “You, uh, bit him?”

Rose nodded.  “He was being mean” She said simply.

“Good to know” Dean said, not sure if he should be reassured she wasn’t afraid to fight back or alarmed that she viewed biting as an acceptable course of action.

“It’s your turn, Dean” Lily said, bouncing on the couch slightly, causing Sam to grin down at her.  “What are you going to ask?” She looked like she was sure whatever it was it would be the best question ever.

Deciding they needed a break from the subject of alcohol Dean went in a different direction.  "What's something your sister loves that would surprise people?"  He watched Rose lean forward to fill her glass, draining the pitcher of the last of its contents.  For someone who didn’t drink much she was putting in quite the effort tonight.

"You mean like a TV show or something?" Rose asked.

"Anything, just something people wouldn't expect."

Rose was wiggling around on the couch now and turned to face Dean suddenly, putting her legs across his lap.  She smiled up at him and he patted her leg, letting her know this was fine.  Inwardly though he was wondering how he was supposed to concentrate with her legs across his lap.

"Lily likes Lifetime movies" Rose said with a grin.

"Sad, but true" Lily confirmed.

"Sam's obsessed with serial killers" Dean offered, rubbing circles on Rose’s knees.

"True crime, Dean" Sam corrected him.

"That's morbid" Lily said, wrinkling her nose.

"You watch lifetime movies" Sam countered.  "That's way more morbid."  Rose and Dean both laughed at that.

"Dean likes karaoke" Sam said with a grin.

"Really?" Rose asked with interest.  Dean nodded and smiled at Rose almost shyly.

"See that's perfect" Lily said.  "Rose never stops singing."

"I've never done karaoke though" Rose volunteered.

"Oh it's fun" Dean said enthusiastically.

"We could all go do karaoke together!" Lily exclaimed excitedly.

"No!" Sam and Rose both said loudly and at the same time.

"Why not?" Lily asked with a pout.

"I don't sing" Sam said flatly, leaving no room for argument in his voice.

Lily looked at Rose questioningly and she finally gave in and answered.  "Lily come on, you are so good at so many things but um, singing isn't one of them."  Lily gave her an irritated look.

"Well, Rose likes to watch soccer on TV and yell at the ref and the players" she said. "And she talks about stuff that makes no sense.  And if she doesn't like the team that wins she sulks."

"Really?" Sam looked dubious at this one.  Rose didn't strike him as a sports fan.

"Mmm hmm" Rose said.  "My Dad got me watching.  It's the only sport I like."

“Well you got one up on me there, sweetheart” Dean said.  “I don’t know much about it at all." He gave her a sexy grin.  “You’ll have to teach me the rules.”

“Oh tattoos!” Lily yelled, and Rose saw Sam wince.  Her sister had a strong set of lungs on her.  “Does your brother have a tattoo and if not what would they get?”

“Are you serious, Lily?” Rose asked.

“What?” Lily said, looking confused.  “It’s a good question.”  Rose just leaned her head back and groaned.

Sam and Dean just quirked an eyebrow each at Lily, then pulled aside the necks of their shirts to show their matching anti-possession tattoos.

“Oh” Lily said, looking deflated.

“Do you guys practice that move in the mirror?  You’re perfectly in sync.” Rose asked in awe, earning chuckles from both boys.

“Dude” Dean said, looking at Sam.  “I think your girlfriends drunk.”

“I’m not drunk!” Lily said. “I just forgot.”  At the three disbelieving looks thrown her way she amended her answer to “Well maybe I’m a little tipsy.”

“Well tipsy girl” Sam said with a smile “What’s your answer?  Does Rosie have any tattoos?”

“Nope, she’s ink free!” Lily said.  “But if she was going to get one it would probably be something in Gaelic.”

Rose nodded her head.  “Yep, probably” she agreed.  “And Lily has one already, a flowery one which is so, so pretty.”  She looked at Dean.  “It’s a lily, a rose and a daisy.  Isn’t that great?”

“Mmm hmmm” Dean said, stroking her leg.  Rose was starting to look somewhere past tipsy now herself.  At what point did they call it a night, he wondered.  Both girls had about half a glass left and were obviously feeling the effects, though neither was too far gone yet.  Though judging by Lily’s forgetfulness she was pretty close.  Dean studied Rose’s face.  She looked happy but in a very mellow, relaxed way.  Of course she hadn’t tried to walk anywhere in awhile so that could be interesting.

“The rose is for me” Rose explained to Dean, obviously assuming he wouldn’t have figured that out.  “And it’s on her boob” she mock whispered.

“No it’s not, Rose!” Lily said, a horrified look on her face.  “It’s on my ribs” she said, pulling up her shirt to show them an intricately drawn tattoo of three intertwined flowers which were indeed not on her boob as Rose as had said, but on her ribs.  Sam casually reached over and tugged her shirt back down, probably having images of the stripping story flashing through his mind.

“Well it’s kinda in the boob area” Rose defended, using her hands to indicate a large area of her body, which from what Dean could tell covered everywhere from her neck to her stomach.  He grinned to himself. 

“My sister, the anatomy expert” Lily muttered.

“I’ve got a question” Rose said.  “Who’s the hottest celebrity in your brothers’ opinion?" She grinned at Lily, who gave her a big thumbs up, obviously agreeing this was a brilliant question.  Dean was pretty sure Rose could have asked what their favorite root vegetable was and Lily would have thought that was a fabulous question.

"Easy one" Sam said.  "Scarlett Johansen."

Dean raised his now empty glass to Sam.  "Absolutely.  Her lips, her hair, her hips and she kicks ass in those Avengers movies.” Dean tickled one of Rose’s feet, pulling a giggle from her before adding.  “Sam likes that chick off that orphan clone show."

Sam rolled his eyes.  "He means Orphan Black and her name is Tatiana Maslany.  And yes, she's hot."

"That's the best show ever" Rose said seriously.  She suddenly looked excited.  "Oh Dean, can you teach me to fight like Helena?  She's so cool."

Not knowing who Helena was Dean wasn't sure if this should be a yes or no answer.  He saw Sam shaking his head violently no and settled for a "Ya, let's just work on getting you to be able to defend yourself, sweetheart." Hopefully that would go smoother than the gun fiasco, he thought.

Lily was frowning at her sister.  "You can't be Helena.  You're not Russian."  She paused then added.  “Or blond.”

"She's Ukrainian" Rose corrected.  "And I don't want to be her.  She kills lots of people.  I just, ya know, if I have to fight then I want to be like her.  She's my favorite."

"But she's crazy" Lily argued.

"So what?” Rose said, indignantly.  “I like her."

"See what you did, Sam?" Dean said.  "You have them arguing about clones.  Make it stop."

"Hey Lil" Sam said, diverting Lily's attention from the current clone dispute. "You guys need to answer this one too.  What’s Rose’s answer?"

Lily snorted.  "Easy.  She likes Sherlock."

"Sherlock?" Dean asked, raising an eyebrow at Rose.

She nodded enthusiastically.  "Benedict Cumberbatch."

Dean just stared for a second.  "That's a name?"

"Mmm hmm.  And he has an awesome coat.  It's all swishy."  Dean stored that info away, thinking he may have to steal Cas' coat.  "And he's funny and smart and he plays the violin and has a great accent."  Dean thought that might just be the most random list of traits he'd ever heard.  But before he could comment Rose was rambling on.  Lily definitely got it right when he said Rose talked a lot when she was drunk.  "Lily loves Channing Tatum.  She's watched all his movies a bazillion times and she has tons of pictures of him on her phone."

"I don't have that many" Lily argued.

Dean raised his hand.  "Uh, I can attest to the fact that you do indeed have a shitload of pictures of him on your phone." He pointed at Sam. "Along with some pictures of you that I'm fairly sure have traumatized me forever."

"Lily" Sam hissed.  "You were supposed to get rid of those."

"But Sam, they were too pretty" Lily said, smiling at him.  Sam didn't appear to share her opinion or her amusement.

Dean was lazily stroking a hand up and down Rose's legs.  He looked up to find her eyes on him and grinned at how big her pupils were.  Her glass was empty now and she was definitely drunk.  She gave him a slow smile.

"I like your hands a lot" she said, watching them go up and down her legs.

"So you've said, Baby" Dean said.  "Hey Sammy, I think it may be time to call it a night" he said, looking over at his brother.

Sam nodded, looking at Lily who was shaking her head at him. "Come on, Lily.  It's bed time for tipsy girls."

"I'm not tired, Sam" she said, folding her arms and frowning.  "And no one’s won the game yet."

"We can finish another day" Sam assured her, getting to his feet. 

"But I want to win now" Lily whined. “It’s my game so I think I should win.  That’s only fair.”

Sam gave up arguing with her and simply picked her up over his shoulder.  "Say good night, Lily."

With a pout Lily waved to them as Sam carried her off to his bedroom.

Dean turned to look at Rose who was watching her sister be carried off.  She laughed.  "That was funny.  They're funny together."

"Mmm hmm" Dean murmured.  "You ready for bed, Princess?"

"Can we go outside first?" Rose asked suddenly.

"What for?" Dean asked.

"I want to see the stars.  I don't have mine here and I miss them."

"Ok" Dean said, moving Rose's legs off his lap and standing.  "But just for a few minutes" he said, helping her to her feet, making sure she was steady enough to walk.  She swayed a little but stayed on her feet, so Dean made sure to keep a hand on her back.  Rose smiled at him happily and followed him outside.  As soon as they were outside Rose's eyes were glued to the sky and Dean's eyes were glued to Rose.

"Oh look how many there are!" She exclaimed happily.  "They're so beautiful."

"Yep, they are" Dean said, never once looking at the stars.

Rose danced and spun around for a few minutes, enraptured by the heavenly bodies above them.  Finally she stopped and just stared at the sky.

Dean came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her to lean against his chest.  "Did you have fun tonight, Baby?"

"Oh I did, Dean.  It was so fun" Rose said happily.  "You're so good you know."

"What?" Dean said, taken off guard by her comment.

"You're so good.  You don't ever see it, but you're so good."  She had a dreamy smile on her face and Dean just chalked the comment up to the alcohol.  Instead of replying he just rested his head against hers for a moment.  They were both quiet for a few minutes, taking in the still night.  Finally Dean broke the silence.  "Come on, Princess.  It's bed time."  Dean led her back inside and down the hall to her bedroom.  Considering how much she drank she was fairly steady on her feet, though she did keep getting distracted by things along the way, till Dean would have to tug on her hand to keep her moving.  (At one point she gave a disjointed monologue on the wallpaper in the hall, something to do with the color and the deeper meaning behind it.  Since it was actually paint Dean was fairly certain the only meaning behind it was that whoever painted it chose green.) Once they reached her door Rose looked at him questioningly.  "Are we gonna have another sleep over?"

Dean grinned.  "I think that can be arranged.  He opened her door and steered her into her room.  "Go and get ready and I'll be in after I turn the lights off."

"I want a kiss first" Rose said, turning to face him and wrapping her arms around his neck.  "You'll be gone so long, I need a kiss."

Dean chuckled.  A drunken Rose was a new experience and not an unpleasant one either.  He brought his lips down onto hers, kissing her soundly before turning her back into her bedroom again, giving her a sharp little swat on her bottom.  "Now go" he said, adding a little growl to his voice which got a giggle from Rose.

Dean went out to the main room of the bunker, turning off all but a few lights and then stopped in his room to get changed for bed.  He made his way back to Rose's room and opened the door to a sight that nearly took his breath away.

Rose had pulled the blankets back on the bed, but failed to get underneath them.  Instead she was curled up on her side, on the bed, sound asleep, her lips parted slightly, her face flushed, her breathing deep and even, dressed in one of his t-shirts.  There was something so intimate about that, Rose in one of his shirts, that Dean had to fight the urge to wake her up and show her just what she'd done to him.  He resisted, instead turning the main light off, pulling the bathroom door so it was open just a crack and sliding into bed next to her.  He pulled the blankets up over both of them and smiled when she snuggled against him in her sleep, one small hand reaching out and laying on his chest.  He wrapped his arms around her, kissed her forehead, and closed his eyes, falling asleep next to the girl that in his eyes was more luminous than all the stars combined.


	28. I’ll Catch the Rain

The next morning by unspoken agreement the boys let the girls sleep in.  Sam and Dean both wandered into the kitchen themselves around 10, heading for the coffee and mumbling a sleepy “morning” to each other.  Sam was usually the more alert in the morning of the two of them, but this morning he was looking a lot worse for the wear.  Dean grinned; something told him Lily didn’t fall asleep like her sister did last night.

“So, you a fan of your little girlfriend with tequila in her, Sammy?” he asked, raising his coffee cup to his lips and letting the caffeine wake him up.

Sam groaned, running his hands through his hair.  “God, I could have happily gagged her last night.”

Dean smirked at his brother, over his coffee cup.  “Whoa, let’s not over share your kinky games, little brother.”

“Funny” Sam said with a glare.  “Did Rose just talk incessantly?”

Dean shook his head.  “Nope, we went out for some fresh air then back to her room and she fell straight asleep.  But Rose doesn't drink anywhere near as much as her sister does normally so all that last night knocked her out."

Sam shook his head.  "I think Lily got it wrong.  She was definitely the one who talked non-stop last night.  I finally got her distracted with, uh, other stuff so she’d shut up.” 

“Sam, you know you’re allowed to admit to having sex with your girlfriend, right? Calling it "other stuff" well that's just so junior high" Dean said with a grin and laughed when Sam flipped him off.  “So you said Bobby mentioned things have been quite on the demon front, huh?”

Sam nodded, sipping his own coffee.  “Ya, he said it’s been almost eerily quiet.  He did say he might have a lead on a witch who can help us though.  He was hoping to know more today.”

Dean nodded.  Good, the sooner they could get Erin back to her normal odd self the better.  It would be less stressful on the girls.

Sam cleared his throat.  “So um, speaking of weird stuff, there’s something I need to tell you.”  He filled Dean in on his conversations with Daisy and Cas the day before.

“What the fuck?” Dean asked, just staring at Sam.  He didn’t even know where to start.

“Ya, that’s a pretty fitting response” Sam said.

Dean put his mug down on the counter and went and grabbed his keys.  “Well, we need to go over there and drag Daisy’s ass out of bed and make her tell us what’s going on.”

Sam grabbed his arm.  “Dean, if I thought that would work I would be in the car with you right now.  Trust me, she’s not budging.”

“She will once I get a hold of her” Dean growled.

“OK first off, I know Daisy looks like a fluffy ball of sunshine but I’m beginning to think a lot of that’s an act.”  Sam shook his head.  “The girl I talked to yesterday?  No way is she telling anyone anything.  And secondly” he looked Dean in the eye.  “That’s Rose’s little sister you’re talking about.  You think that you bullying her is going to go over well?”

Dean stepped back, thinking about this.  “Good point” he conceded, putting his keys down.  He rubbed the back of his neck and then looked at Sam.  “Fluffy ball of sunshine?”

Sam rolled his eyes.  “I’ve been hanging out with Lily too much.”

“Obviously.”  Dean walked back to the counter and drank down the rest of the coffee in one gulp. "So what now?”  He started pacing.  “Do we call Cas, see if he’ll tell us anything more?”

“I don’t think that’ll do any good either” Sam said.  “Yesterday was like talking to two matching brick walls.”  He paused.  “Well except Daisy smiled more.  I think at this point we just have to trust they’re really doing what’s best for Lily and Rose.”  Sam looked anxiously at Dean.  “Did I do the right thing here?  I wasn’t sure if I should tell you.”

“Ya” Dean nodded.  “Ya, I needed to know.”  He stopped pacing near the counter.  “I think, to be on the safe side, we have to not tell the girls though.”  He stopped, realizing what this meant.  “Fuck, and after I just lost it on Rosie for not telling me everything.”

“You see why I wasn’t sure about telling you?” Sam asked.  “I know what a shitty position this puts you in.”

“No, I needed to know” Dean said again.  “You did the right thing telling me.  I just wish I knew what the fuck any of it meant.”  He sat down suddenly at the counter, a confused look on his face.  “It’s like we’re living in a twisted Wonderland or something.”

Sam resisted pointing out to his brother that Wonderland _was_ twisted.

"Ya know what?" Dean said suddenly.  "Screw this.  I'm going back to bed." And he got to his feet and headed for the hallway.

"Dean, I'm sorry.  I shouldn't have said anything." Dean turned to find his brother looking guilty.

"No, Sammy, you did the right thing, you did. I just, I need time to think."

"Well later, once you've had time to think, bring Rose in my room and we'll watch a movie or something." Sam's room had the biggest TV in the bunker, not to mention the biggest bed.  Dean nodded and then turned to leave.  "Hey Dean?" Dean turned back and Sammy grinned at him as only a little brother can.  "You're allowed to admit you're going to have sex with your girlfriend, you know.  Calling it “time to think” is just so junior high."  Dean turned and headed back to Rose's room, returning Sam's gesture from earlier and hearing Sam's laughter ringing in his ears.

* * *

Despite Sam's teasing Dean really did plan on letting Rose sleep.  She most likely wasn’t going to feel so great once she woke up and the longer she slept the better.  He figured the quiet of her room, along with her presence would be a good, calm place to for him to concentrate.  Rose was still soundly asleep when he let himself back in her room and he let himself stand and stare at her a few minutes before slipping back into bed next to her.  He snuggled up against her back, wrapping his arm around her.  She was so soft and warm that after a few minutes of racking his brain for some sort of plan, for what Daisy and Cas' cryptic words might mean, for what exactly they we're going to do, he fell back asleep.

* * *

He woke up a few hours later to a pair of big blue eyes staring at him.  He was on his back and Rose was laying with her arms folded on his chest, her chin on her arms, one leg nestled between his, staring at his face.  "Morning Sunshine" Dean said, smiling at her and pushing her hair out of her face.  "How you feeling?"

Rose shrugged as best she could in her position.  "Tired.  And my head hurts."

"Ya that's kind of understandable considering how much you drank last night."

"Hmmm” This seemed to make Rose pause.  “I didn't drink so much though.  Did I?"

"Well you drank a whole pitcher of vodka and lemonade.  I don't know how much vodka Lily put in there but I'm guessing it was quite a bit” Dean said, rubbing a hand down her back.  “That’s a lot, especially for a lightweight like you.”

"Mmm ya, I kind of think Lily was trying to get me drunk." She looked at Dean questioningly.  "Isn't that supposed to be something you do?  Try and get me drunk and take advantage of me?"

Dean gave Rose his best smirk.  "Not my MO.  If I need alcohol to get you in my bed then I'm losing my touch."

Rose frowned.  "I've never actually been in your bed though." She paused.  "Or your room either for that matter.  That's weird right? Do you secretly have a horde of women stashed away in there?"

Dean laughed.  "Nope, the only women in the bunker at the moment are of the Sullivan variety." He paused and then said "So Rosie," he wrapped a finger around a lock of her hair "why didn't I ever get to meet this Danny guy?"

"Why would you have wanted to?" Rose asked, curiously.

Dean shrugged.  "Don't know.  I'm more interested in why you didn't want me to."

"And how many of your girlfriends did you bring by our house over the years?"

"Aw, Rosie, I didn't really have girlfriends, with the very rare exception here or there."  He unwound his finger from her hair then and grinned.  “Mine were more fun distractions.  But yours, especially this bleacher guy, sounds like he hung around for awhile."

"You really want to have a conversation about my high school boyfriend?" Rose asked, looking confused.

"Nope, just why I never got to meet him."

"And what would you have said if you did?” Rose queried. “How would you have introduced yourself?"

Dean smiled, showing off his friendliest face.  "Hi I'm Dean, a friend of Rose's."

"A friend who flirts with me.  A friend who would be perfectly OK watching another guy put his arms around me, kiss me, touch me...right?"

Dean's face had darkened at her words. It was one thing to know that Rose had been involved with other guys, to even hear about it.  But to imagine actually having to watch her with someone else, Dean shook his head.  No, that wouldn't have been ok.

"See what I mean?" Rose said and Dean nodded.  "So why am I a contradiction?" Rose asked, bringing up his muttered comment from last night.

Dean grinned.  "You heard that, huh?" Rose nodded.  "Well on one hand you have this wild story about having sex under the bleachers but then you don't have a single embarrassing drunk story.  In one breath you can be Saint Rose, as Lily calls you and then in the next you’re throwing out some comment about me having a fantasy about watching two redheads.  If you looked up contradiction in the dictionary I’m pretty sure your picture would be there.  You keep me guessing."

“Is that a bad thing?” Rose asked.

“Not at all” Dean admitted.  “I kind of love it about you.”

Rose smiled sleepily.  "Well good, because I don't know how to be any other way."  She stifled a yawn.

Rose looked like she could slip off to sleep again at any moment.  "Hey sweetheart, before you fall asleep again, do you want to go watch a movie in Sammy's room?  Lily's there and we can just take it easy today, watch some movies, whatever.  You can nap in there if you like."

"Ok" Rose said agreeably.

"There's just one thing before we go though" Dean said, his eyes darkening.  "I need you to put something else on.  You're not hanging out around Sammy wearing just my t-shirt."

That woke Rose up.  “Feeling possessive are we?” she asked with a smile.  She sobered when she saw the look he was giving her, the one that made heat flood her body.

“Rosie, if you weren’t hung over I would show you just how possessive you wearing my shirt makes me feel.”  He ran his hands up and down her back, over her hips, down to her ass and held her against him. “It looks good on you.”  Taking a deep breath and reminding himself how bad hang over’s felt, Dean resisted every urge going through his body.  Instead he gave Rose a quick, fleeting kiss and reached for his phone.

“I’ll remember that” Rose murmured, getting out of bed and rummaging through her bag before heading for the bathroom to change.

Dean texted Sam, wanting to make sure they were still set for movie watching.  He got a quick affirmative answer and also some other news.  Bobby had definitely found a witch.  She wouldn’t be able to get here for a full week but at least that was something.  That was progress. Dean fed Sookie while he was waiting for Rose, giving her a few head scratches and winning himself a deep purr in return.

Dean looked up, when Rose came out, dressed in purple pajama pants that had little tea cups all over them and a matching top (“Keep Calm And Drink Tea” it urged.)  He smiled at her.  “Ready?”

Rose went over and picked up a purple blanket that was next to her bag.  “Now I am” she said.

Dean led Rose down the hall, telling her they had a quick detour to make.  Instead of going straight to Sam's room they went to another door.  Dean ushered Rose in, saying "This is my room" and steered her to the bed.  "Have a seat" he offered and just as quickly as Rose had sat down he was helping her to her feet again.  She got a quick impression of an incredibly neat space with a few personal touches she wanted to look at, before being ushered out.  We're not staying here" he explained, leading her out into the hall.

"Then why?" Rose was perplexed at this odd behavior.  "What was the point?"

"Can't have you going into my brothers’ room and sleeping on his bed without ever being in mine first" Dean said with a wink, as if this made complete sense.

Rose rolled her eyes.  "Ok so we really are feeling possessive today."

Dean just smiled at her and led her back down the hallway to Sam’s room this time, knocked and then went in when Sam yelled out a “Come In.”

Sam's room wasn't as neat as Dean's (though nowhere near messy), with lots of books and DVDs lying about, a large TV and some bookcases, full of books and a few pictures. There was a chair that seemed to have amassed all of Lily's things, which mostly amounted to a pile of clothes and shoes.

Lily and Sam were cuddled up on one side of the bed, leaving plenty of space for Dean and Rose on the other.  Lily looked up when they entered.  “Rosie, I’m dying” she said, making Dean question if Daisy really was the dramatic sister.  Dean ushered Rose to the bed, got her situated next to her older sister and then got her to take some aspirin to help her head and drink some water.  (Sam had thought ahead and had some ready for both girls.) Then Dean climbed onto the bed, behind Rose and cuddled up against her.  He spread her purple blanket out over both of them and snuggled up with her.  Sam and Lily’s legs were intertwined and he was stroking Lily’s back, Lily was playing with Rose’s hair lazily and Rose had her legs tangled with Dean’s.  Rose smiled happily.  “All we need now are the stars and it would be perfect” she said softly.  The opening music to The Lord of the Rings started and Rose and Lily both fell asleep again before the first lines were spoken.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I post this we're getting deluged with rain from Hurricane Patricia, so the title of this chapter is pretty ironic. I swear I picked it out well before this weather hit.


	29. But You know Me Like the Back of Your Hand

The next day Dean got Rose started on learning how to fight.  It went better than the shooting had, though not brilliantly.  Rose wasn't very good but she wasn't scared of it like she was the guns.  So while she had a long way to go Dean was confident he could teach her.

Rose had mentioned to Dean how she’d been hesitant to drink at the bar because of her powers.  Since the alcohol relaxed her it actually made her less likely to feel out of control.  Granted, she hadn’t gotten upset so that was an unknown factor but still, it was a positive.  Dean was counting that as a win.

They headed back down to the shooting range after lunch.  He could feel the tension rolling off of Rose the whole way down.  Once they actually got to the range he tried to get her to loosen up, rubbing her shoulders and giving her his best encouraging smile.  He could tell it wasn’t doing any good though and today’s practice wasn’t any better than the first one.  Rose was being too quiet about the whole thing.  She wasn’t as chatty as Daisy but she was definitely someone who liked to chatter most of the time.  When she was too quiet it meant things weren’t good. 

“OK" he said, after they had finished up and put the guns away.  He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against him.  “What’s going on, Rosie?”

“Nothing, Dean” Rose said quietly.  She was staring intently at his shirt buttons, not meeting his eyes.  Ya, that wasn’t going to work.

Dean grabbed her chin and tipped her head back.  Her eyes were clouded and worried. “Talk to me Rose.  What’s wrong?” 

She bit her lip and he could see she was struggling with herself.  She seemed to want to talk but was afraid to.  “Come on, Baby, talk to me.”  He let go of her chin and stroked her hair back from her face.

Finally she broke, the words spilling out.  “What if what my mom said was right?  What if I really can’t do any of this, if I’m not strong enough?  I’m obviously horrible with a gun and I’m no fighter.  I’ve cried more in the last week than I have in the last year.  What if she was right?”

“Woa, woa where’s all this coming from?” Dean asked, surprised by Rose’s train of thought.  She hadn’t mentioned what her mother had said to her for several days, not since right after Dean had told her she was under a spell.

Rose mumbled something softly, practically into the buttons of his shirt, way too softly for Dean to hear.  “Come again?” he said.  Again with the mumbling.  “OK, Rose, loud enough for me to hear, please.”

“I had a dream last night” Rose said, still softly but loud enough for him to hear at least.  “My mom was saying all those things to me again, everything she said to me the other day and more.” She looked up at Dean then and he could tell from her eyes that whatever was coming next was what was causing her the most pain.  “And my dad was there and….and he seemed to agree with her.  While she was yelling at me he was just nodding his head.” She paused for a second, then took a deep breath and asked “Do you think that was his spirit trying to tell me he agrees with her?”

“OK no, no” Dean reached down and picked Rose up and sat her on the ledge of the counter.  He tipped her chin back again so she was looking at him.  “Rose I need you to listen to me and really hear me.  All that shit your mom said to you the other day was just that; shit.  She was under a spell.  What she was saying meant nothing.  It was just meant to hurt you and cause you pain.  It wasn’t based on fact or anything even resembling reality.  OK?”  Rose nodded though Dean didn’t think she looked too convinced.  “Now as far as your dad, first off that’s not how it works with spirits.  Spirits can’t get into your dreams.  And Baby, I knew your dad.  There is no way he would have ever agreed to that stuff your mom said.  I’m pretty sure your dad would have punched anyone who said there was anything you couldn’t do.”  He chuckled softly.  “Hell, if he were still here I’d be afraid what he would say about his little girl being with a guy like me.  Point is, your dad always had your back and believed in you.”  He smoothed her hair back behind her ears, looking at her softly.  “That was just a nightmare, Baby, nothing else.”

“You’re sure?” Rose asked, in a quiet, hopeful voice.

“Absolutely” Dean said firmly and Rose smiled.

“Thanks” Rose said.  “That helps.  I think I was just, well I’ve been worried about this” she motioned to the shooting range “and then my dream just made me more anxious.”

“And you didn’t share any of this with me why?” Dean asked, fixing Rose with a stern look which caused Rose to get butterflies.

“Um, I don’t know.”  Rose wiggled around, not meeting Dean’s eyes.  “I didn’t want to be a bother?” she finally said, venturing a look at his face.

“Oh Rosie, that was not good” Dean said, shaking a finger at her.  “Not good at all.  In fact” Dean lifted her suddenly, flipping her over so her tummy was resting on the counter and her legs were hanging off, her feet just touching the ground, “I would say that was very, very naughty.”  He smirked at the little squeak she let out when he flipped her, then ran a hand over her perfectly raised bottom.  Who knew how handy the counter in the shooting range could be?  It was the perfect height.  Thank you Men of Letters for your foresight.

“It was?” Rose managed to breath.

“Mmm hmm” Dean murmured, grinning at the sight she made.  One of his hands stroked her bottom softly, petting her as he talked, while the other rested on her lower back, keeping her in place.  "And I know we've talked several times now about what happens to naughty girls haven’t we Rosie?”

“Um, yes?” Rose ventured.  Her heart was beating so loudly she was sure Dean could hear it.

“And what did I say happens?” Dean asked, drawing this out, loving the teasing and the coaxing that went along with this.

Rose squeezed her eyes shut and then said “You said they get spanked.”

“Good girl” Dean said, squeezing one bottom cheek appreciatively.  “And I think that time has definitely come.”  He watched Rose’s profile, loving how flushed her cheeks had gotten, how she had her eyes closed and seemed to be holding her breath in anticipation.  He moved his hand down slowly to the hem of Rose’s dress and raised it to rest on top of her hips, then ran his hand over her panty clad bottom.

“Ready, Rosie?” Dean asked, resting his hand on her bottom.

“Yes, Sir” Rose said and instantly wondered where the hell that had come from.  She wasn’t sure she had ever uttered that phrase in her life.  Neither of her parents had raised their daughters to use Sir or Ma’am.  (In fact if someone said either in Erin’s presence she was likely to give a speech on the evils of societal hierarchy.)  Dean could tell from Rose’s face that her response had caught her off guard.  Interesting.  He filed that away for later.

Dean gave Rose’s bottom one more rub then pulled his hand back and landed it with a sharp smack.  A soft “oh!” escaped Rose’s mouth.

“It seems to me, sweetheart” Dean said, landing another smack, “You’ve had this coming for a while now.”  He peppered the swats all over her bottom, making sure to space them out.  “You’ve just been getting naughtier and naughtier.”  More smacks followed before he said “You’ve been practically begging me to spank you” and Dean wasn’t sure if it was his words or a well placed spank that caused Rose to let out a small whimper.

If Rose had been thinking she would have been in a quagmire (And if there was ever a time to use such a complicated word this was it).  How could something that hurt (And it did indeed hurt. Dean had strong hands and arms and while he certainly wasn’t using his full strength he wasn’t just tapping her here either.) make her feel so good?  It didn’t make any sense but yet she couldn’t argue with the fact that this was unbelievably hot.  And for once Rose’s brain was just turned off.  She wasn’t trying to figure this out, she was just letting herself feel, turning herself over to the moment.

Dean was rubbing her bottom now, watching her face.  God, she had the most expressive face of anyone he knew.  And right now so many emotions were going across it…she was like a movie.  Dean was happy to see that lust was definitely the predominate emotion there.  Looking down at his handy work Dean decided they weren’t quite done yet.  The skin of her bottom around the edges of her panties wasn’t quite the shade they were going for yet. “So Rosie, let’s talk about sharing.”  He brought his hand down with a snap on the lowest portion of her bottom, earning a little yelp.  “I can’t help you if you’re not telling me things, can I, Baby?” She shook her head quickly and Dean chuckled softly before adding a few more stinging smacks.  “See and you know that, I know you know that, sweetheart.”  A few more sharp swats followed his words.

"Ya know, I think we might just be done here, Baby, but, well I really need to see everything, just to be sure.”  Dean leaned over and spoke right into Rose’s ear.  “Lift your hips up, Rosie.”  Rose obeyed instantly and Dean’s hands tugged her panties off in one smooth motion.  "Good girl” he said, knowing if there was one thing that Rose liked almost as much as being told she was naughty, it was being told that she was good.  Again with the contradictions, Dean thought with a little grin and a shake of his head.  Dean stepped back slightly, taking Rose’s naked bottom into view.  It was painted a dusky red now, pretty much all over.  “Oh I think I did fairly well here, Baby” Dean said, rubbing her bottom.  “But maybe we need a few more, right here” Dean said, rubbing his hand on the lowest portion of her bottom.  The fact that she was pushing her hips back into his hand made him think she agreed.  “Just so when you sit down for the next few days you can’t help but think about this.”  His hand stroked her bottom softly before asking “Does that sound good, Baby?”  Rose gave an enthusiastic nod of her head and Dean chuckled again.  “OK Baby, get ready” and he brought his hand down harder than before, spanking her with just a little more force, making sure she would feel these for the next few days and earning soft cries from Rose with each spank.  When he was done his hand rubbed her bottom, feeling the heat and listening to Rose’s labored breathing.  “We good, Baby?”

“Mmm yes” Rose said, wiggling a little bit on her tummy, acting as if she was going to try to rise.

“Stay still, Rosie, I said we were done with your spanking, I didn’t say we were done entirely” Dean said, smiling.  “Spread your legs for me, Baby" Dean said and Rose immediately did as he asked.  One hand moved down from her bottom, to slowly slip between her legs.  She gasped and there was that whimper again.  Dean’s hand stroked her softly, finding her wet and desperate for his touch.  When he only lightly stroked her Rose let out a moan.

“Please, Dean, don’t tease” Rose said, her desperation evident in her voice.

“Your wish is my command, sweetheart” Dean said and he slipped his fingers into her, moving one up, circling and putting pressure right where she needed it most.  “You should see your bottom Rosie, it’s the prettiest shade of red.  Just like a naughty girls bottom should be.”  Her whimper told him he was on the right track.  Rose loved words as much as she loved being touched.  Dean sometimes wondered if he could make her come simply from words alone.  Oh, that could be fun to try in the future.  Right now though, Dean had a goal.  “Can you imagine what people would think if they could see you like this?”  His fingers stroked, circling, pumping in and out and he could feel her tensing.  “Bent over, legs spread, just been spanked and my fingers deep inside you.”  He felt her tensing around his fingers and she let out a soft cry as her body shook, then relaxed.  He stroked her softly, then leaned down to kiss her gently.  “Beautiful” he murmured.

Rose lay there, catching her breath, feeling the world slowly stop spinning.  She slowly opened her eyes and found Dean leaning over her so the first thing she saw was his green eyes.  She smiled at him and he kissed her again.  He pulled back to grin at her and she swore he looked as smug as she’d ever seen him.  She stood up slowly, stretching her back muscles and then let out a little gasp as her skirt fell down and the fabric brushed her bottom.  That hurt!  Dean chuckled and she half heartedly glared at him, before asking where her panties had gotten to.  Dean snatched them off the next counter murmuring a soft warning of “That’s not going to feel too good.”  Rose rolled her eyes and hissed when the fabric rubbed against her sensitive skin then pushed Dean back so he was leaning against the counter she had just been laying over.

She stepped in between his legs, laying a hand against his chest and leaning against him.  She leaned in and kissed him, then pulled back and looked up at him and smiled.  “That was amazing.”

He smiled at her, looking proud of himself.  “I aim to please.”

Rose smiled at him, then started unbuckling his belt.  He raised an eyebrow at her questioningly but didn’t move to stop her.  She popped the button on his jeans, then his zipper and slowly slid a hand inside, stroking him and smiling at him as she did.  “Something tells me you enjoyed that too, Babe” she said and he hissed as her fingers danced over him.  “Um, you half naked, with your freshly spanked ass in the air and my fingers inside of you…ya, I enjoyed that.”  Rose laughed, then leaned into whisper “I’m going to make you feel good too.”  Then she leaned back, slowly pushing down his jeans and boxer briefs and slowly sank to her knees in front of him.  She smiled up at him then, and that image of her, all flushed cheeks, big eyes and tousled hair, smiling up at him, just waiting to please him was the epitome of beauty, as far as Dean was concerned.  Never moving her eyes off his face she reached out a hand and slowly, drug just one finger up his length, watching his sharp intake of breath, then she slowly wrapped her hand around him, moving her hand slowly back and forth and watching as he watched her through slitted eyes.

“You told me not to tease” Dean protested, his voice huskier and lower than normal.

Rose looked up at him, the picture of innocence.  “Was I teasing?” Dean gave a quick nod of his head and Rose grinned.  “OK ya, I was” and she leaned forward and wrapped her lips around him.  Dean groaned, trying to resist closing his eyes.  The image of Rose on her knees with her sweet little mouth wrapped around his cock was enough to bring him close to coming already and he wanted to watch her as long as he could.  But then she pulled back, licking the tip, and his eyes shut and his head fell back as he let out a loud moan.  One of her hands moved to wrap around the base of his cock and another to gently stroke his balls and he gasped her name raggedly.  Her mouth enveloped him in wet heat and when she started moving, bobbing her head he knew he wasn’t going to last long.  His hands gripped the edge of the counter as he groaned.  He’d been desperate to come from the moment he touched her and her mouth on him was just too much.  “Rose, Baby, I’m close” he said and she picked up the pace.  Moments later he came with a shout and her name on his lips.  When he opened his eyes again she was still kneeling there, smiling at him and licking her lips.  Dean reached out a hand and pulled her to her feet, dragging her into his arms roughly so he could kiss her deeply.  "God, you're awesome" Dean said and Rose just smiled as he pulled back and got his clothes back on. 

"Come here, pretty girl" he said, unable to resist pulling her back into his arms.  She looked up at him, a soft, relaxed smile on her face and something inside him thrilled at the fact that he was the one to put that smile there.  "Feeling better?" Dean asked and Rose nodded, then made a face.  "Well most of me is anyway."

Dean chuckled and slid his hands down to her bottom.  "Ya, you're definitely going to be sore for a few days." He raised an eyebrow at her.  "Worth it?"

Rose nodded immediately.  "Absolutely" causing Dean to chuckle and grin proudly at the same time.

Dean kissed Rose once more before they headed upstairs, both in a much happier mood than when they came downstairs.

* * *

That night lying in bed Rose's body was sore and tired.  Between training and their activities in the shooting range she was worn out.  But she snuggled against Dean, his arms wrapped protectively around her and she drifted off to sleep and if any nightmares tried to visit her dreams that night she was too tired to remember them. 


	30. This Brokenness Inside Me Might Start Healing

The next morning Rose woke to the feeling of hands sliding over her and tugging her panties down.  She raised her head and gave Dean a sleepy look over her shoulder.  “Is this some new thing I’m going to be waking up to?” she asked sleepily.

Dean grinned, giving one last tug and pulling her underwear off entirely.  “Just checking you aren’t too sore after yesterday” he explained, in his most chivalrous tone.

“Mmm” Rose commented, letting out a little gasp as his hands stroked down her bottom.  Oh ya, definitely some tender skin there.  "Bet you’re glad I sleep on my stomach.”  When Dean said nothing in return she glanced back over her shoulder to see him frowning slightly.  “OK you looking at my butt and making that face is not doing a lot for my ego.”

Dean grinned.  “Sorry” he said, then lightly stroked her bottom again. “It’s just, well I left some marks.”

“Mmm hmm” Rose said and waited for him to explain.  When no explanation came she realized what he meant.  “Wait, that’s why you’re upset?”

“Ya” Dean said, nodding his head ruefully.  “I mean, I know I was teasing you about feeling it for a few days but I didn’t realize you would bruise that easily.” He was inspecting her entire bottom to the point that she was beginning to feel like some kind of art display.

“Dean, you smacked me pretty hard.  What did you expect?”  Rose instantly knew that was the totally wrong thing to say when she saw guilt wash over his face.  “OK we need to talk…can you stop staring at my butt long enough for that to happen?”  Dean pulled back, the guilty look still firmly in place and Rose rolled over to face him.  She pushed him back so he was lying on his back and she was laying with her arms on his chest, staring at his face.  She gave herself a quick internal pep talk.  _OK Rosie, you can do this.  Time to share all those inner kinky thoughts.  If anyone will understand it’s Dean.  I hope._

“OK first off, do I look at all upset with you?” Dean’s eyes scanned Rose’s face, looking for any trace of anger or fear.  Seeing none he shook his head, the guilt slowly easing off his face.  “That’s right.  Because I’m not.  I liked what we did yesterday, I loved it in fact.  I kinda figured you could tell that from my reaction.” That got her a classic Dean Winchester grin.  “If I didn’t I would have told you.  In all the years you've known me have I ever had a problem speaking up for myself?”

Dean shook his head, smiling at her.  “I don’t think any of the women in your family have a problem voicing their feelings.”

“Right, and that’s why you like us.”  Getting no argument Rose continued.  “OK then.  Secondly, I’m a redhead, Dean with pale skin.  I bruise if you breathe on me wrong.  Ask Lily, there were like a thousand times as kids we would be playing and she would barely touch me and I would look like someone attacked me.”  She paused adding, "But you might want to come up with some excuse why you’re asking her beforehand.  Let’s not have a discussion about my butt with my sister ok?”  That got a chuckle and a nod from Dean. 

 _OK deep breath now._   “And thirdly and most importantly in my book at least, Dean you spanked me.  If you didn’t leave some kind of mark well then you kind of did a sucky job.” That got a chuckle.  “I like being able to feel that you spanked me the day after and usually that means there will be some marks, probably some bruising.  I like catching a glimpse of them in the mirror when I’m getting dressed.  Honestly?” She looked down shyly then looked back up at him from under her lashes. “It turns me on.  It’s like the ache after you’ve had really good sex, just with marks to show for it.”  She bit her lip nervously, realizing what a long monologue she had given.  "So um, ya, hopefully that whole speech didn't freak you out too much or make you think I'm too twisted."

Dean smirked.  "Na, you're nowhere near twisted.  Kinky maybe, which I have no problem with. For the record though?" He rolled her over suddenly, trapping her beneath him.  "All you had to say was you liked it and we'd be good."  He gave her a sexy wink.

"Good to know" Rose murmured as Dean's lips came down to cover hers.

* * *

After breakfast they had a surprise visitor.  Sam wasn't expecting to find Bobby at the door to the bunker but there he was.  "Hey Bobby, is everything ok?" Sam asked, letting him in.

"Ya, ya everything's fine" Bobby said.  "I just needed to get out and clear my head.  Thought I would just stop over and see how you all are doing."  He paused and then added “I actually wanted to have a talk with Rose while I’m here.”

Sam looked a bit surprised at this but led him into the living room where Rose was.  She'd been checking her email on her phone while waiting for Dean to be ready to go downstairs and start training.  When she saw Bobby she smiled and got up to hug him hello.

"Hi Bobby" Rose said happily.  "Are my mom and Daisy ok?" Daisy had yet to return to the bunker.  She'd told her sisters she was keeping Erin company but the boys figured it was because of her conversation with Sam.

"Oh ya, they're fine.  They were doing something with your mom’s hair when I left.” Bobby looked a bit baffled as to what exactly.  “Um, why don't we take a seat?"  Rose nodded and sat back down and Bobby took a seat next to her on the couch.

* * *

Sam wandered back to the kitchen, finding Dean there with Lily, though he hadn’t been there when Sam had left to answer the door.

“Bobby’s here” Sam said to Dean, watching his face for a reaction, but Dean didn’t give anything away.

“Oh ya?” Dean asked, apparently uninterested.

“He said he wanted to talk to Rose” Sam said, causing Lily to look up.  “You have any idea why?’

Dean shrugged carelessly.  Way too carelessly, in Sam’s opinion.  Dean knew why Bobby was there and just wasn’t saying.  Sam rolled his eyes.  Typical Dean.

* * *

"I wanted to talk to you" Bobby said.  "The boys told you we have a witch that's gonna help us with the spell on your mom?"  Rose nodded.  "I got to thinking about what your mom said to you and I know you know that was the spell, right? She didn't mean any of what came out of her mouth."

"I know" Rose said softly, staring at her hands in her lap.

"Still hurts though, doesn't it?" Bobby asked and Rose nodded.  "Here's the thing, Rose.  I knew your daddy really well.  He used to talk about you girls non-stop.  Big hulk of a man and yet mention one of you girls and he became the soppiest sap in the world." Bobby smile fondly at the memory and Rose smiled as well. "But honestly, the proudest I ever saw him was when he was talking about you and how kind you were.  He told me once that you had the biggest heart of anyone he had ever known, that he would just watch you with other people in amazement, how you took care of them and loved them.  The thing is, Rosie, he knew that was a strength.  He knew that opening your heart like you do takes courage, that there wasn't an ounce of weakness in you.  So don't you dare take a word of what your mother said while she was under some spell to heart, you hear?"

Rose had tears streaming down her face and wasn't even trying to stop them.  "I needed to hear that, Bobby, so badly.  Thank you so, so much."  And she reached over and hugged him.

Bobby hugged her right back.  "It's a good thing I've always been fond of you girls, otherwise I think I would have killed him after hearing yet another story about you all."

Rose leaned back, wiping tears from her face.  "He did love to talk, didn't he?"  Bobby chuckled, nodding.  "Daisy gets that from him, though honestly we’re all pretty big talkers.”  She looked down at her hands, trying to regain her composure, then glanced back up at Bobby.  “I miss him so much."

"I do too, Rosie.  He was a good man.  He'd be awful proud of how you've handled all this."  Rose started to speak and Bobby raised a hand to stop her. "Nope, no arguments.  I know it hasn't been easy but you've done well.  A lot of people would have just fallen apart.  Shows just how strong you are."

"Thanks, Bobby.  I couldn't have done it on my own though.  I've had amazing people helping me, especially Dean."

"Another good man" Bobby said, with a nod of approval.

"He's trying to teach me how to shoot and fight" Rose said, her anxiety bleeding into her words.

Bobby nodded.  "You listen to Dean, do what he tells you and you'll learn.  He's bossy but he's a good teacher, knows what he's doing.  Don't forget you're your daddy's daughter.  That skill is in there, you just gotta let it out.  Don't be afraid of it.” He paused, then added “I know it’s gotta be a tough adjustment, since you never did any of this before, but I don’t doubt for a second you can do it.  Just listen to Dean” Bobby repeated.  Then he paused. "Your daddy really liked Dean, you know" he said, smiling at Rose.

"I know" Rose said, smiling back.  Bobby wondered if she knew just how much, if she knew that her father had told him that he would love to see Dean and Rose together, that he thought they would be a couple one day, that they would fit together perfectly.  Parents could say all they wanted about not having favorite children but Rose’s father quite obviously had.  He had doted on Rose from the second she was born.  The fact that he thought Dean was good enough for her said a lot about how much he thought of Dean.

"Good girl" Bobby said, patting Rose's hand and rising to his feet.  "Now I'm gonna go and see what you have in that kitchen to eat."

"Oh there's a lot.  Lily can you show you" Rose said happily.  "I'd show you myself but my teacher has a thing about me being on time for class." She rolled her eyes at Dean as he came into the room.

"Yep, that's me.  I'm a real strict teacher" Dean said, smirking at Rose and causing her to blush.  “Hey Bobby” he said.

“Hey” Bobby said, raising an eyebrow at Dean, wondering just how much of the conversation he had heard.  He knew he wasn't above eavesdropping.  Dean's face gave nothing away though.

Rose stuck her tongue out at Dean and then shrieked and ran around Bobby as Dean tried to grab her.  She stopped and leaned into whisper in Bobby's ear "Thanks Bobby, you're the best" and she kissed his cheek before running away from Dean.

Bobby stood there, watching Dean stalk after her playfully and smiled to himself.  Seeing the two of them together like this would definitely have made Brendan Sullivan smile.  It made Bobby happy as well, seeing both his adopted boys happy, but especially Dean.  He carried too many burdens himself and Rose wasn't someone to let that happen.  Dean was lighter around her.  He teased and laughed and one of them was always touching the other.  Bobby ended up staying for lunch, spending time in the library beforehand doing a bit of research.  Over lunch he watched Dean and Rose some more and was definitely pleased at what he saw.  They both looked happy, despite the chaos going on, they looked good.  There was a lot of teasing among the foursome and a lot of laughter.  That was good.  There was a lot of strength here and these four bonded together only enhanced that.  Bobby smiled to himself and left after lunch, feeling good that his boys were happy.

* * *

It was after lunch and this time it was Dean who was doing the waiting.  Rose and Lily were in the kitchen, Lily cleaning up after lunch and Rose getting something started for dinner that night.  Dean was stretched out on one of the couches in the living room, doing something with his phone when Sam walked in.  Dean groaned inwardly at the look on Sam’s face.  He wasn’t gonna let this go.

“So” Sam said, sitting down, “What was Bobby here to talk to Rose about?”

"Why didn't you ask him?" Dean asked in return.

"Because I'm asking you" Sam said.

"Ya, that makes no sense" Dean muttered, then he sighed, knowing Sam wasn't going to let this drop.  He sat up and made sure neither of the girls was in hearing distance.  "Look Rose was just having a tough time with the shit her mom said and she needed some reassurance."  Dean looked down at his hands then back up at Sam and Sam could see the worry in his eyes. "She'd started having nightmares that her dad agreed with what her mom said." Sam took a quick intake of breath.  "Ya, it was bad" Dean said, nodding his head.  "So I figured if anyone could set her straight on that it was Bobby."

"Because he knew her dad" Sam said, giving Dean an appraising look.  "Good idea."

Dean grinned.  "Told you I'm brilliant."

Rose walked into the room then and Sam noticed the shirt she had changed into.  "Great shirt" he said, grinning at Rose.

Dean stared at the shirt for a minute before muttering "A scorpion and a mango.  This is going to be one of those geeky things I don't get, right?"

"Yep" Sam and Rose said in unison and then laughed.  Dean just rolled his eyes at them and got up from the couch.  "Though I personally prefer the term fan girl" Rose added.

"OK come on, fan girl" Dean said, grabbing Rose's hand and pulling her along.  "Let's go get a gun in your hands."

“Oh joy” Rose muttered.

Sam watched Dean and Rose as they walked out.  Dean had his hands on her hips and was whispering something in Rose's ear that had her giggling.  The fact that Dean had asked Bobby to come talk to Rose was huge.  He wondered if his brother had any idea just how far gone he was.  Probably not.  Sam wasn't sure what was going to happen once everything with the Sullivan girls was settled but he did know one thing.  He didn't see a way for things to go back to how they were before.  What that meant for everyone involved only time would tell.


	31. 'Cause I'm Not Easy To Understand

Dean was much happier with Rose's results on the shooting range that day. She'd managed to not close her eyes (a big improvement) and she'd even got a few shots somewhat on target (and not on the hand either).  He'd found if he had her shoot several shots in a row without stopping she did much better.  It didn't give her time to think and worry over each shot.

"You did a lot better when you did multiple shots in a row."  Dean said, studying her results.  "I think one of your biggest problems is you overthink."

Rose laughed.  "You think?"  Dean quirked an eyebrow at her and she explained.  "If I had my own t-shirt that would be the slogan.  “She overthinks!”  Rose laughed again and then shrugged.  “It's just how I am.  Lily says I need to be better at acting versus thinking."

Dean remembered the conversation he and Lily had when they thought she would be going onto Bobby's and leaving Rose here.  " _Rose gets stuck in her own head sometimes."_   She was right.

"Well you have some more days like today you'll be on your way to being competent with a gun."

Rose laughed.  "Oh yeah, competent.  Just what every girl dreams of."

"Hey baby steps" Dean said with a smile.  "You did good today."

"Thanks" she said with a blush.  “Bobby said my dad was a great hunter and that I have that skill in me.” Rose shook her head.  “That’s just hard to imagine.  I’ve never once thought of myself as doing anything like this” she motioned around the room.  “So it’s taking some getting used to but I’m trying.”

Dean was smiling at her, coming over and kissing her forehead.  “You’re doing really good.  All this takes time, Babe."

"Did I mention I'm not the most patient person?" She asked with a small smile.

"No really?  I never would have guessed” Dean said, feigning shock.  Then he leaned in close to say “I know a time you’re really impatient.”

“Oh ya?” Rose said, smiling up at him and wrapping her arms around his neck.  “When would that be?”

Dean grinned wickedly, picking her up and carrying her over the counter.  He sat her down and watched as she winced slightly when her bottom made contact with the counter.  “When you’re desperate for my fingers to find just the right spot” he murmured, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her against him.

Rose blushed but didn’t deny it.  “Do you blame me?”  He shook his head, a smug smile on his face.  “You’re not exactly the poster child for patience yourself, you know” Rose said, threading her fingers through his hair.

Just before Dean’s lips found hers he murmured “I’ve always thought patience was way over rated.”

* * *

After dinner (Which was an amazing meatloaf and mashed potatoes that had Dean moaning to the point that Sam had threatened to kick him out of the room if he didn’t shut up.) Sam brought up research.  While Rose and Dean had been training Sam has been researching.  Since Daisy had been out of action Lily had actually buckled down and helped.  (Though Dean was going to guess from Lily's little grin her help had come mostly in the form of distraction.  Dean made a mental note not to walk in on their research unannounced.).

"The coven your mom has ties to is clean as far as I can tell.  I researched every member and everyone checked out."  Sam was obviously frustrated by this. "I mean they could be hiding and it’s not like they're going to list that they're working with a demon on their Facebook page-"

"Covens have Facebook pages?" Dean interrupted.

Sam gave him a look.  "Believe it or not, yes."

"Huh" Dean said, blinking slowly. "That's disturbing."

"So basically we have no idea who put a spell on our mom" Lily said her irritation evident in her voice.  "See, told you research sucks."

"I'll switch places with you" Rose offered, earning a frown from Dean.

"No, you won't" he said, shooting both sisters a glare when Lily looked thrilled at this prospect.  "Bossy" Lily muttered.  Dean ignored her and continued "Ok so what about anymore on the prophecy.  Do we have anything there?"

"Uh, I really need to see where Daisy got.  She was digging into that while I was looking at the coven." Sam looked at Lily.  "Can you text Daisy and see when she's coming back?  We could really use her help."

Lily nodded and got her phone out, texting Daisy quickly.  “Ya, I figured she would be back here by now.  I know she was spending some time with mom so-” She stopped talking abruptly and her eyes flew to Sam.  “What did you say to Daisy?”

“What?” Sam asked, looking confused and then very guilty.  He hadn’t thought Daisy would say anything about their conversation, considering both she and Cas had been adamant about Lily and Rose not know anything.  “What do you mean?”

“She says she’s not comfortable coming back after what you said to her.  What did you say to my little sister, Samuel?”  Lily’s eyes were practically shooting sparks.  She was in full on big sister protective mode and looked intimidating as hell.

Sam’s eyes had gotten wide and Dean had a sudden flashback to a 10 year old Sammy when Bobby had walked out just as Sam had broken a windshield in one of his cars.  For someone who could lie brilliantly to someone on a case Sam sucked at it in his personal life.  Damn it.  Dean was ready to jump in when Sam surprised him.

“I just asked her a little about her and Cas.  I didn’t realize it made her so uncomfortable.”  Sam was suddenly charmingly contrite.  “You can tell Daisy I’m sorry and I’ll tell her myself when she gets here.”  Damn, he even had the puppy dog eyes out and they seemed to be working.  Lily still looked pissed but less like she was going to jump across the table and rip his head off, so that was a start.

Dean glanced at Rose who had been quiet throughout this whole exchange.  He caught the expression on her face and inwardly he swore.  Lily may be buying Sam’s act but Dean was almost certain Rose wasn’t.  She gave Dean a funny little smile and he remembered how much she had known about what was going on in her house that no one else seemed to.  Rose was way too observant for her own good.  And his.

Lily was texting rapidly, shooting little glares Sam’s way as she did.  After a few minutes she looked up and gave a nod.  “OK, she said she’ll come back tomorrow.  She wants to spend another night with mom.” She narrowed her eyes at Sam again.  “You better be nice to her.  She’s just a kid, you know.”

Sam nodded in complete agreement.  “You’re absolutely right.  Tell you what, I’ll pick her up myself tomorrow morning to fix things, ok?”

Lily gave a little nod and slipped her phone back into her pocket.  She still looked pissed though.  “Come on, Rosie.  I’m sure the boys can clean up since you cooked.”  And with a flip of her hair she stalked out of the room.  Rose got her feet, giving both boys a knowing look and walked out after her sister.  Dean was left wondering how he somehow wound up in trouble when it was Sam who had lied.

“Fuck” Sam said, looking at his brother.

Dean nodded, standing up and picking up his and Rose’s plate.  “Yep, that pretty much sums it up.”

* * *

Lily had thrown herself dramatically on one of the couches in the living room.  “Can you believe he did that?  Why would he ask Daisy about her and Cas?  She doesn’t know anything else.  She already told us that.”

Rose sat down by her sister, ready to play peacemaker, her designated role from birth.  “I’m sure he didn’t mean to upset her, Lil.  Knowing Sam he just wanted to get everything down in his journal.  I bet he was just re-checking to make sure he got everything down correctly.”

“You think?” Lily asked, looking at her sister, wanting confirmation.  Rose could tell from Lily’s face she wanted to believe her.  She didn’t really want to be mad at Sam, which was in itself a miracle.  Lily sometimes seemed to take great delight in being upset with her boyfriends.  The rants that Rose had listened to in her lifetime about the men in Lily's life could fill a novel.

“Definitely” Rose said, using her most confident voice.  “I bet he asked and Daisy over-reacted.  You know how sensitive she can be.”  While she was talking Rose’s mind was going a million miles an hour.  There was no way she was buying this whole story.  She’d seen Sam’s face when Lily had first confronted him.  He’d been scared.  That had not been the face of a guy who was just worried his girlfriend was pissed at him.  Something more had happened than he was saying and she was certain Dean knew what it was.  She’d seen his reaction as well, had felt him ready to jump into the conversation but Sam had handled it.  She knew that reaction; had been there herself with Lily when she was trying to cover something up from their mom many times.  Dean definitely knew what was going on.  No way was she going to let that go.

She brought her mind back to the here and now to find Lily staring at her.  "Sorry, what did you say?"

Lily looked annoyed at her lack of attention.  "I said do you think it's a good idea to let Sam pick Daisy up tomorrow.  I don't want things to get worse."

"You know what, I think it's a great idea he does.  Whatever happened between them they'll sort it out." Rose patted Lily's arm.  "I'm sure Sam didn't upset her on purpose and wants nothing more than to make things right with her."  She smiled at Lily and added "Don't be too rough on him, Lil, Sam doesn't routinely deal with teenage girls."

"Ya well he just better get used to it" Lily said hotly, causing her sister to wonder just how serious she and Sam were.  They really needed some serious girl time.

* * *

In the kitchen Sam and Dean were busy washing the dishes and trying to get a handle on the situation.

"You have absolutely no poker face" Dean pointed out to his brother.  "You looked like a deer caught in the headlights."

"Well I wasn't expecting that" Sam said defensively.  "I didn't think Daisy would say anything.  Wasn't she the one who said we couldn't tell them?" He motioned in the direction the girls had gone.

"She's a teenage girl, Sam.  They can be all kinds of spiteful." Dean handed Sam a pot to dry.

"She's nineteen, Dean" Sam pointed out.  "That's not a baby."

"Well it's not an adult either" Dean argued.  "And she's a young 19 anyway.  She's the baby and they all spoil her, you know that."

Sam grunted and put the dried pot away.  "Well whatever, I still don't get why she'd do that."

"Most likely she was pissed you talked to Cas, went behind her back.  So she figured she'd throw you under the bus to Lily."  Dean looked at him shrewdly.  "She's not dumb, Sam.  She knew how Lily would react."

"Ya, like a rabid mother bear."

Dean chuckled.  "Ya, she did seriously look like she was going to kill you.  She even called you Samuel."  Sam glared at him but Dean just looked amused and handed him a plate.  "Good job on the smooth cover story, by the way.  Where did that come from?"

Sam shrugged, concentrating on the plate in his hand.  "It wasn't that hard to do if I think it's going to keep Lily safe."  He looked at Dean. "We have to assume that, right?  That that's why they were adamant we don't tell Lily and Rose?" Dean nodded.  "Then ya, I'd do just about anything to guarantee that."

Dean took a breath.  “Well to make things more complicated you may have convinced Lily but I’m pretty sure Rose didn’t buy it.”

“What?” Sam asked the alarm clear in his voice.

Dean nodded.  “You didn’t you catch the look she gave us both when she was walking out?”

Sam shook his head.  “I was too busy watching Lily.”

“Typical” Dean said with a smirk.  “Rose did not buy your story, I know that for sure.”

“Damn it” Sam swore.  He dropped the dish towel he’d been holding on the counter.  “Then we’re screwed.”

Dean shook his head.  “Let me talk to her.”

“You better do a damn good job of talking” Sam said.  “That’s the only chance we have.”

Dean gave his brother a knowing look.  “Ya, what else is new?”

* * *

After finishing their discussion the boys wandered into the living room to find Lily stretched out on one of the couches, playing a dice game on her phone.  Rose was nowhere to be seen.

Sam lifted Lily’s feet and sat down on the couch, resting her feet on his lap.  Personally Dean thought he had a death wish, or at least a desire for severe bodily harm.  Lily glared at Sam but said nothing, settling her legs more comfortably.  Sam just pulled his own phone out and started reading something.  Dean rolled his eyes at them.  The phone people, that’s what he was going to start calling them in his head.  And maybe out loud too.

“Where Rose?” he asked and Lily shrugged.

“She wandered off somewhere.”

Dean rolled his eyes at Lily's unhelpful answer and walked off in search of Rose.

* * *

Sam stroked Lily's ankles, his hand drifting up and down her calves.  She glared at him over top of her phone.  "I'm still mad at you, you know."

"Ya, I gathered that from the death glares" Sam muttered.  "I said I was sorry, Lily.  I'll fix it with Daisy tomorrow." Oh would he fix it all right.  It was going to be an interesting conversation they had on the way back to the bunker. 

"She's my baby sister, Sam" Lily said, looking at him seriously and laying her phone down. "You need to be careful with her.  She's just a kid."

Sam resisted the urge to tell her what he'd been doing at 19.  That wouldn't help matters though so he didn't.  He wondered what Lily would say if she knew her baby sister was having some kind of weird clandestine relationship with an angel.  Sam almost snorted at the thought.  Lily would have a coronary.

Instead of saying any of this he just nodded.  He didn't like lying to Lily and didn't want to fight with her on top of it. 

"I know you think we baby her, me especially" Lily said softly, causing Sam to look up in surprise.  He lay his phone down and focused on her. "She was so young when my dad died; I guess we all just tried to make up for it by spoiling her."  She met Sam's eyes.  "I know she's spoiled and I know she can be bratty but she's ours and I can't help but be protective of her."

Sam reached out and grabbed one of her hands, stroking it softly.  "I get that.  I do.  It’s part of what makes you, you.  I wouldn't ever want to change that about you.  I love your fiercely protective side. Admittedly more so when it's not directed at me. Though I’ll admit, you’re awfully hot when you’re like that" he said with a grin and Lily smiled.  "Just don't forget I love Daisy too, ok?  She's not my sister but I've watched her grow up and I would never do anything to hurt her."

"I know that. I do.  Just when I feel like someone I love is under threat I tend to act first and ask questions later."

"Holy crap, I'm dating my brother" Sam said with a grin.

"Bite your tongue!" Lily said, smacking at him, with a laugh.  "Now," Lily said, sitting up and crawling towards Sam, the predatory glance she had given him earlier back, but this time for a much more appealing reason.  She crawled into his lap so she was facing him, straddling his hips. "How are you gonna make this up to me?" She smiled at him wickedly and wrapped her fingers around the lapels of his shirt, tugging him towards her.

"Well we can go back to our room and-" Lily was already shaking her head.  "No?"

"Uh-uh.  Right here."

Sam groaned.  "I swear you're an exhibitionist, Lily.  You realize Dean or Rose could walk in on us at any minute, right?"

"Oh and you aren’t?” Lily asked with a knowing grin and Sam blushed slightly, but didn’t deny it.  “It’s part of the fun" Lily said with a devilish twinkle in her eye.

"How did I wind up with such a bad, bad girl?" Sam asked as his lips found their way to her neck.

"Just lucky, I guess" Lily said with a smile.

* * *

After going through several rooms and not finding any trace of Rose, Dean gave in and texted her.

_Hey where are you?_

_Assuming I haven't wandered into some other bunker I think I'm in your dungeon._

Dean grinned at her comment and headed her way.

"Hey" he said, walking into the dungeon to find her inspecting the manacles on the wall.  Rose had changed before dinner into a simple green dress that made her look like she had stepped straight out of the 1950s. (Between the fight training and the shooting practice Rose found she had to change clothes more during the day.  She was quickly becoming someone who could go through two or three outfits a day.) Dean loved her in it but seeing her walk around the dungeon dressed like that was just a little too surreal.  “What are you doing down here?”

"Hey yourself" Rose replied.  "I was just wandering, exploring a bit and this door was open so I came in."  She shot him a questioning look.  "So is this where you tell me that my wanting you to spank me didn't freak you out because you're into way kinkier stuff?"  She was holding one of the manacles up to her wrist now, examining it.  "Because hey, I'm an open minded gal.  I'll try most things once."

Dean chuckled.  "That's good to know.  The men of letters built this though.  Comes in handy with demons sometimes."

"Hmm" Rose said noncommittally.  "Interesting."  She laughed then.  "God, I have a friend who would go crazy over this place." 

Dean raised an eyebrow at her.  "Sounds like an interesting friend."

"Oh she is" Rose said with a smile and not filling in any details.  She walked over to the table that was in the center of the room and hopped up on it, swinging her legs and smiling at Dean.

"So let me guess, you have a dungeon fantasy of some sort?" Dean asked, leaning against the wall and smiling at her.

Rose considered.   “Hmm, not really?  It’s definitely not the room in the bunker that’s at the top of my fantasy list.”  That got Dean wondering which one was at the top, because that sentence definitely made it sound like there was one.  “It's a bit too hardcore for my tastes but hey" she shrugged "Like I said, I'm open minded and I can usually come up with some kind of fantasy that works.” She leaned back on her hands and grinned at him.  “Me spread over this table for a spanking could work." Dean bit back a moan.  God, she just came out with stuff like that so casually while looking like freaking Donna Reed.  "What about you, Dean?  Want me to be a sexy prison guard?  Or a helpless prisoner?"  She gave him a sexy smile and Dean felt his pulse quicken and had to admit that last one sounded pretty good.  She smiled, noting his reaction.  "We'll have to take a rain check though.  Right now, I'd really like to know why you and your brother are lying."  Her grin was gone now and she was staring straight at him, dead serious.

"Crap, I figured you caught onto that" Dean muttered.

"I figured Sam would be a better liar actually" Rose said with a frown.  "Don't you guys kind of do this professionally?"

"If we're on a job Sam can lie like nobody's business.  Course not as good as me" Dean said smugly "but he's still damn good.  In his personal life though he sucks." Dean pointed up. "That was actually an amazingly good job for Sam."

"Hmm.  Well he's lucky Lily sucks at telling when people are lying."

"Not you though, huh?" Rose shrugged. "Ya, we should be so lucky that you both have bad instincts."

Rose sat up straight, crossed her arms and looked at Dean sternly and Dean had the sudden image of Rose as a sexy librarian and God, was that hot.  He shook his head to clear it, needing to concentrate.  Rose could distract him like no one else could.

"You're not going to like this, but I'm going to ask anyway." Rose gave him a questioning look. "Can you just trust me that it's in everyone's best interests for you not to know?"

Rose's jaw literally dropped.  "Are you serious?"

Dean rubbed the back of his neck.  "Ya, sadly I am."

"Well the answer is a big fat no” Rose said, sounding irritated.  The manacles on the wall rattled and Rose took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down.  “No, you can't just say it's for my own good not to know.  Did you seriously think I would go for that?"

"I kind of hoped so, ya." Dean realized he was doing a crappy job of this.  _Come on, man, you're the smooth talker._   Except he wasn't with Rose, which is why this wasn't working.  Another woman, hell, another man he could have done a whole song and dance number on and completely bullshitted his way out of this.  But not with Rose.   _Ok Dean, cut the crap and just be honest with her._

"Ok Rosie, I know it's a huge thing to ask.  But please, just for a little while, please just trust me.  I want to tell you, I do, but I can't."  Dean had come up to the table now, standing in front of Rose, looking down at her.

Rose stared into his eyes, trying to gage what he was thinking.  All she could clearly get was sincerity and his strong desire for her to believe him.  "Can I ask why you can't tell me?"

Dean shook his head.  "I can't tell you that either.  I'm sorry."

“So just to make sure I’ve got this right, you want me to trust that you and Sam are lying to me and my sister for a good reason?” Rose said, putting it as bluntly as she could.  “But you can’t tell me why or any other details but I should definitely just take your word for it.”

“Well when you put it like that it sounds a lot worse” Dean said.  “But, ya, that’s it really.”

Rose stared at Dean’s face, trying to take in every detail that would tell her anything.  Internally her self preservation instinct was screaming at her, telling her she was an idiot for even considering this and reminding her that this was the same guy who didn’t trust her and her sisters when they wound up in Daisy’s dream.  But another part of her, what some would have called her gut and what Rose would call her heart, was whispering a softer reply, a more trusting one that reminded her that this was also the guy who sat with her in the middle of a tornado of her own making, that she knew him and his protective instincts and had seen them in action, that he wouldn’t put her or those she loved in danger.  The two sides battled it out and Rose felt this weird sense of peace come over her, knowing what her decision would be.

Rose was studying him and Dean had the distinct impression that something larger than just this was being decided.  Finally, after what felt like an eternity to Dean, she gave a small nod.  "Ok I'll trust you.  Just please don't make me regret it, ok?"

Dean gave her a brilliant smile.  "I promise.  You won't.  Thank you, Rosie."  Dean leaned down to kiss her, overwhelmed at the trust she was putting in him.  He was honestly blown away by it. He had the sudden thought that he hoped he could keep that promise.  He and Sam were taking a lot on faith here.  He just hoped it didn't come back to bite them all in the ass.


	32. Somebody Tell That Girl To Step Up To The Plate

The next morning Sam set out to get Daisy from the hotel around nine.  He was determined to stay calm once he had Daisy in the car but to also make it clear to her he didn’t appreciate the games.

When he got to the motel he talked to Bobby for a few minutes, telling him what they had found research wise (not much) and said hi to Erin, before taking Daisy's bag to the car while she followed him out.  Daisy looked nervous when she shut the door and Sam gave her a level look.  He started the car and they hit the road before he spoke.  Or that had been the plan anyway but Daisy beat him to the punch.

“Sam, I’m really sorry about yesterday.  You made me angry by going to Cas after we talked.  I saw a chance to get back at you and I took it and I’m really sorry I did.”  She looked at him with a truly contrite expression on her face.  “Please say you’ll forgive me.”

Sam glanced at her in surprise.  He hadn't been expecting that response.  He actually felt completely shocked and at a loss for words.  Finally after a few minutes of stunned silence Sam managed to say "It's OK, just don't do it again."

Daisy gave him a big smile of thanks and then sat quietly in her seat.  There was no constant chatter like there usually was with her, no playing on her phone.  She was just quiet and still, two things Daisy normally only ever was when she was asleep.  Sam wasn’t sure what to make of these strange actions.  He felt like he had went to pick up on person and gotten another one entirely.  He shook his head.  Sam had known Daisy her entire life and he had never known her to apologize like she had to him.  Oh sure, he had heard her say she was sorry to her sisters on occasion but it was a rare thing and usually much more short and to the point (“Sorry Rosie, didn’t mean to be a brat.”  “Sorry Lil, I’ll never do it again.”) than this apology had been.  In fact he didn’t think he had ever heard Daisy speak so formally.

Sam cleared his throat and asked “Daisy, can I ask, what’s going on with you and Cas?”

Daisy smiled at him, a small, odd smile.  “You can ask but I can’t answer, Sam.  I’m sorry.”

Sam gave her an irritated look.  “What’s with all the secrecy?  You said it was Lily and Rose who couldn’t know anything.  What’s the harm in telling me?”

Daisy sighed.  “In a perfect world you wouldn’t know anything either, Sam.  But you had to ask.  You and Dean had to figure out something was going on and complicate things even further.”  Daisy sounded as aggravated as a mother dealing with a pair of toddlers who repeatedly asked for candy that she knew would spoil their dinner.

“Well if you and Cas would just explain things maybe it wouldn’t be so complicated” Sam said.

“It doesn’t work that way, Sam” Daisy said.  She closed her eyes for a second and then opened them saying “How many times have you and Dean kept things from others to keep people safe?  How many times have you kept things from each other?”

“I don’t know” Sam said irritably.  “A few times.”

Daisy laughed.  “A few times!  You keep things to yourself on a routine basis.  Sharing is not the Winchester way.  Not so fun being on the other side, is it?" Daisy sobered then and laid a hand on his shoulder briefly. “You just need to trust that what’s being kept from you is for the best.  There aren’t a lot of happy outcomes.  Sometimes you just have to settle for the least painful.”

Sam abruptly pulled the car over to the side of the road and slammed the car into park.  He turned to Daisy, looking agitated and angry.  “You’re talking about people’s lives here, Daisy.  I don’t know what kind of game it is you think you’re playing-“

“It’s not a game, Sam.  Not at all.”  She had turned to face him, a sad look on her face. “Knowing things isn’t fun, Sam.  There are so many things I see now that a week ago I couldn’t even imagine.  I really had no idea all I didn't know." She shook her head. “This isn’t how I want things to be, but I don’t have a choice.” She raised her hand when Sam opened his mouth to speak and her eyes flashed, looking suddenly angry.  “Yes, yes, I know.  You always have a choice.  Well the choices here are bad or worse.  I love the people involved too much so I’m going with the only half way acceptable choice.  Bad is the best option we have and it’s what I’m sticking with.”  She turned her head away from Sam, to look out the front window.

Sam just stared at her, truly worried by what she had said.  Not knowing what else to do he put the car back into gear and drove them back to the bunker.  They made the rest of the drive in silence.

When they got there, the minute they walked through the door Daisy was all smiles for her sisters and even hugged Dean when she saw him (Though she quickly moved away from him before he could say anything to her).  The serious, quiet girl he’d driven here was nowhere to be seen.  The three Sullivan girls all tromped into the kitchen together, planning breakfast with Daisy chattering away.

Sam grabbed Dean’s arm and pulled him aside.  “We need to talk.”  Dean nodded and followed Sam into the library.

Sam gave Dean a quick rundown of what Daisy had said.  Dean looked as horrified as Sam was.  “What the hell do we do?” Dean asked.  “Cas is either ignoring my messages or blowing them off like he did when I asked him to fill in his side of the story on Daisy’s dream.  I’ve gotten a lot of “Urgent angel business elsewhere” messages.”  Dean started to pace and Sam just stood slumped against one of the tables.

“I’m thinking maybe we need to talk to Bobby, see what he thinks” Sam said.

Dean nodded slowly.  “Ya, not a bad idea.  Wouldn't hurt to get another take on it.  Let’s go” he said, turning around.

“Now?” Sam asked, taken aback by his brother’s sudden move to leave.

“Sam, I can’t just sit here and watch her giggle with her sisters, pretending everything’s OK.  I may strangle her if I do.”  He stopped, considering.  “Of course, if I do that it might just get Cas’ ass here.”

“Ya, let’s go” Sam said, deciding it was time to get Dean out of here before he went ahead with this plan.  "I'll let him know we're on the way" he said, pulling his phone out.

Heading out of the library Sam detoured by his room to grab his journal and Dean headed toward the kitchen to tell the girls they were leaving.  Sticking his head in the doorway he saw Rose was at the stove cooking something and Lily and Daisy were both seated at the counter.  All three had smiles on their faces, obviously happy to be back together.  Dean cleared his throat and three pairs of eyes turned to him.  He looked at Rose.  “Can I see you for a second?”

Rose nodded and wiped her hands on a dishtowel, instructing Daisy to stir whatever she was cooking.  Dean could hear Lily grumbling about no one trusting her to cook when they walked out.

“What’s up?” Rose asked.  As soon as they got around the corner Dean pulled her into his arms and kissed her.  He wrapped his arms around her waist, planting his hands firmly on her ass and holding her tightly against him.  He put all the irritation he was feeling at Daisy and Cas and channeled that into thoroughly kissing Rose.  At least something good should come from all that energy.  It took Rose’s mind about half a second to catch up with that was happening and then she was returning the kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck and threading her fingers in his hair.  When their lips finally separated they were both breathing heavily.  Dean rested his forehead against Rose’s, giving himself a second to get his breathing evened out.

Rose stared up at him, wide eyed.  “What was that for?”

Dean raised his eyebrows at her.  “I can’t just kiss my girl?  I need a reason?”

Rose smiled, a soft, happy smile.  She loved hearing him call her that.  “Nope, you definitely don’t.”

Dean smiled at her.  “Sam and I are gonna run out real quick.  We need to talk to Bobby about something.”

Rose looked at him questioningly.  “What about?’

“It’s a research thing” Dean said, not wanting to lie but knowing he couldn’t tell her the whole truth either.

“Is this to do with the thing you can’t tell me about?” Rose asked quietly and Dean nodded.

“We shouldn’t be gone too long.  Have breakfast with your sisters.  You guys could probably use some girl time, right?”  Rose nodded, not looking happy at this turn of events.

Wanting to take Rose’s mind off what he wasn’t telling her and leave her on a happy note, Dean flexed his hands on her bottom and squeezed.  He smirked at her when she gave a little yelp.  “Still sore, Baby?”

“Tender” Rose corrected.  “But getting better.  I heal quickly.”

“Good to know” Dean said, a sexy smile on his lips, bringing a blush to Rose’s face.  He leaned close to her ear and whispered in a husky voice that gave Rose shivers “You definitely better be a good girl today then, hadn’t you, Rosie?  Wouldn’t want me to have to turn you over my knee and spank that still tender bottom of yours.”

Rose blushed a deeper shade of red, looked down and then back up at Dean from under her lashes.  That look made him have to lean down and kiss her again, nibbling on her lower lip and drawing a soft moan from her.  Rose pushed the whole length of her body up against his, drawing a matching moan from his mouth.

Of course that was the moment Sam walked in.  He stopped, unnoticed by the couple who were passionately making out against the dining room wall.  He paused, wondering if he won some kind of award for being the first one to finally catch them in anything close to a compromising position.  Sam smiled, and shook his head as he realized he could probably stand there all day before they noticed him.  He discreetly cleared his throat, causing the two to break their kiss.  Rose started to pull back but Dean kept his arms around her, holding her where she was.  She looked at Dean questioningly and then smiled.

“Be with you in just a sec, Sammy” Dean said, never taking his eyes off Rose's face.

Sam nodded and went into the kitchen to tell Lily they were leaving.

Dean leaned down and kissed Rose quickly as soon as Sam was gone.  “We’ll be back in just a bit.”

Rose nodded.  “You behave yourself too, Dean Winchester.  I can tell you’re upset.  Whatever it is, talk to Bobby and Sam about it and let it go.”

Damn but she could read him well.  “Yes, Ma’am” Dean murmured, placing one more kiss on her lips, before giving her bottom a smack and then calling to Sam to hurry up as he headed for the door.  Sam came out of the kitchen a second later, gave Rose a quick smile and followed his brother.  Rose headed back into the kitchen and to her sisters with a smile on her lips.

* * *

"OK, let's have it" Dean said, a few minutes after they left the bunker. Sam gave him a questioning look and Dean elaborated.  "Whatever it is you've wanted to say for the last 10 minutes.  Let's hear it."

"Who says I have anything to say?" Sam threw back, unable to suppress his grin.

"Ya, that'd be a first if you didn’t" Dean muttered.  "That goofy grin on your face says you do."

"I'm just trying to figure out if me walking in on you and Rose making out means you're getting sloppy”  Sam raised an eyebrow at him.  "Or if it means you’re getting serious."

"Making out means we're serious?" Dean shot his brother a look that said he clearly thought he was an idiot.

"No, you two getting _caught_ making out makes me think you might be getting serious" Sam clarified.  "Come on, Dean, how long have you two been keeping everyone guessing about what you're up to?  If it was just flirting, if you two are in a relationship and sneaking around.  And in all this time no one’s caught you two doing anything."  Sam paused, looking thoughtful.  "Then Rose suddenly has a hickey on her neck and today I walk in on you two in a seriously heated kiss."  Sam shrugged.  "I'm just following the evidence where it leads me."

“Hmm” Dean said, giving nothing away.

Sam waited and when Dean said nothing else he said “That’s it?  That’s all you’re going to say?”

“Mmm Hmm.” Dean smirked at the frustrated look on his brothers’ face.  “I can neither confirm nor deny any of your comments or speculation.”  He laughed when Sam shot him a dirty look.  Then Dean did what he always did when he didn’t want to talk about something; he deflected and turned the attention away from himself.

"What about you and your little girlfriend, Sammy?  Things getting serious there?" Dean asked with a grin, sure he'd put Sam on the spot now.

Sam just looked at him evenly, not in the least bit uncomfortable with the topic.  "Ya, I think they could be" Sam said.  At Dean's double take, Sam shrugged and asked "What?"

Dean looked clearly dumbfounded by Sam's reaction.  "I just...wasn't expecting you to be so, I don't know, calm and matter of fact about it."

Sam, in turn looked bemused by Dean’s reaction.  "Why not?  It's a good thing, Dean.  I'm not saying we're running off tomorrow and getting married but things are really good between us.  I don't know about you but I don't want to spend the rest of my life alone, just going through random hook ups at bars."

"Hunters aren't known for living happily ever after ya know, Sammy."  Dean gave his brother a worried look.  He had been kidding when he'd told Lily not to hurt Sam, not thinking it was a real possibility.  He'd figured this was mostly a physical thing, something convenient when they were together.  Sure there was obvious chemistry between the two of them but Dean hasn't figured it was anything more.  The actual idea of it getting serious between them had never crossed his mind.

Sam snorted.  "When have we ever done anything normal?  Or worried about the odds?  Lily was raised by a hunter; she's a hunter herself, more or less. No one else is ever going to understand our life like these girls do.  And honestly Dean" Sam looked at him then and Dean made himself look away when he saw the naked truth in Sam's eyes. "I'm not overly worried about happily ever after.  I'll take happily right now for as long as I can get it."

Dean just nodded and gave his brother an appraising look but said nothing in reply.  He was just hoping Lily was as serious as Sam was.  He’d really hate to have to kill Rose’s big sister.

* * *

The girls settled down to breakfast, during which they talked about nothing other than food.  Rose may have been the only one who liked to cook but all three Sullivan girls loved to eat.  Rose was planning on making tacos for dinner that night and that brought up the topic of other Mexican food they loved.  Then that lead to a discussion of other dinners they loved and then to desserts.  Once they had cleaned up they all headed for the living room, to collapse on the couches.  Daisy had her bag in tow, Rose had brought nail polish from her room and Lily had her phone to play on.

“Maybe I’ll make lasagna tomorrow” Rose mused.  “I think I have everything I need.  You want that, Days?”  Lasagna was Daisy’s favorite food and this question got a bright smile from her and an enthusiastic head nod.

“Are you OK, Daisy?  Sam apologized, right?” Lily asked, looking over at her sister from where she was laying on the couch.

Daisy nodded.  “Oh ya, he did.”  Daisy paused and then added “And I over reacted a little really.  He wasn’t a jerk or anything.  I just got upset because I thought he didn’t believe me.”

Both her sisters looked at Daisy in shock.  Both were fairly certain the phrase “I overreacted” had never left her lips before.  It had been said plenty by others about her, but never by her.

“That’s really mature of you, Daisy” Rose said, slowly and Daisy just shrugged.  She reached over and pulled a magazine out of her bag that she’d carried in with her and slowly started thumbing through it.

“So what did I miss while I was gone?” Daisy asked.  “Anything interesting?”

“Rose got drunk” Lily said with a grin.

“Lily got drunker” Rose retorted, grinning herself.  She had her nailpolish spread out on the table in front of her, just starting to paint her nails a shiny blue.

Daisy laughed softly.  “Sounds fun” she said, smiling at both her sisters.  She flipped through her magazine a bit then asked casually “So how are things with Sam, Lil?”

Lily grinned a truly wicked grin.  “Delicious” she all but purred.  Both her sisters laughed but Daisy pushed further.

“I take it from that smile that the sex is awesome?” Daisy asked.

“God, yes” Lily moaned and Rose thought that may have been a vocal demonstration she could have lived without.  “Finally a guy who can keep up with me and let me tell you, he’s not plain old vanilla either.  Thank God.”

“OK then” Daisy said, obviously having gotten a more than adequate answer.  “Aside from Sam’s bedroom skills, things are good?”

Lily blushed and that literally caused Rose to stop in the middle of applying polish to her finger.  Lily hardly ever blushed.  You could have the most graphic discussion with her about any sexual act you wanted (That’s where 90% of Rose & Daisy’s sex education had come from.) and she had no problem with nudity, hers or others.  Aside from her famous stripping story she rarely got embarrassed and it was so uncommon to see her blush that Rose was shocked.  “Lily?” she asked her confusion clear in her voice.

Lily was staring fixedly at her phone.  "Mm hmm" she murmured.

Daisy and Rose shared a glance.  The whole fact that Lily didn't want to answer made them both sure there was something going on.

"OK Lily, spill" Rose said.

"Spill what?" Lily asked, looking up from her phone finally with an annoyed look on her face.  "We're having mind blowing sex.  Do you want me to make you a list of positions we've tried?  Kinks we've dabbled in?  What his safe word is?"

Rose grinned at Daisy.  Lily was comfortable with sex, emotions not so much.  There was definitely something more going on here.

"How serious are you two?" Rose asked, point blank.  With Lily the direct approach was often the best one.

Lily's eyes flew to meet Rose's and then just as quickly went back to her phone.  It was quiet for a minute and her sisters were beginning to think Lily wouldn't answer at all when she finally said softly "Pretty serious."

Rose let out a little squeal of delight and Daisy grinned, letting out a cry of "Details!"

Lily squirmed a little, her face still red.  Finally she said "It's not just physical between us."  For Lily that statement was huge.  Rose hated to admit it, because it didn't put Lily in a very good light, but men had always seemed pretty disposable to her sister.  The fact that she was willing to admit there were actual feelings involved was mind blowing.  Rose couldn’t remember the last time Lily had ever said anything like that, if ever.

Rose smiled at her sister happily.  "I'm happy for you, Lil."

Lily finally looked up and smiled back at Rose.  "Hey, he puts up with my crap but he doesn't let me run all over him, which is huge."  She rolled her eyes.  "You know how I feel about guys I can push around.  He can keep up with me and he doesn't try to change me.  That pretty much makes him perfect; just don't ever tell him I said that."  Then she gave a wicked grin.  "Plus the fact I can climb him like a tree and fuck his brains out is pretty amazing."

Rose just kept smiling and shook her head at her older sister.  She turned to make a comment to Daisy and was surprised to find her frowning.  She seemed to be deep in thought a million miles away.  Then she shook herself suddenly and looked up to find Rose watching her and smiled.

"So Lily's found her Prince Charming" Daisy started.

Lily let out a snort and made a retching noise before saying "I'd prefer the term lover or even hot piece of ass over that God awful phrase."

Daisy rolled her eyes and continued.  "What about you, Rosie?  How are things?"

Rose smiled, smoothing polish onto another finger before answering.  "Things are good, considering the craziness that is our life right now.  They're better than I could have hoped for."

"She means with Dean" Lily said, obviously not happy with this vague answer.

Rose just moved onto the next nail, spreading the polish out evenly.  "Ya, I got that, Lil, thanks."

"So what, that's it?" Lily looked annoyed.  "I spilled my guts and all we get back is this bland "Things are good" crap?"  Rose rolled her eyes at her sisters’ dramatics.  "No way, that isn't going to cut it, Rosie.  Dean has a reputation.  Does he live up to it?  We need details."

Rose sighed.  She knew Lily wasn't going to give up on this topic now that she'd started.  She might as well start talking.  "From what we've done so far he lives up to and goes beyond every bit of his reputation you can imagine."

Lily was staring at her shrewdly, taking in exactly what she'd said.  "Are you telling me you two haven't-"

Rose cut her off.  "Not yet, no.  We've done other things which have been amazing."

"Holy hell, he had you glowing like that the other day and you haven't even-" Lily cut herself off this time, shaking her head.  "I gotta admit, that's impressive."

Rose grinned.  "You have no idea.  He has the most amazing hands."

"Oh great, Rosie.  Now I'm going to be staring at his hands" Lily said in disgust.

"And I'm going to be looking at Sam and picturing you climbing him like a tree!" Rose retorted.  Daisy let out a laugh at both of them and after a second Lily and Rose joined her.

"So why haven't you, ya know, done the deed?" Lily asked and Rose shrugged.  "I don't think it's a conscious thing, at least not on my part.  We've just been taking our time, I guess, which has honestly been pretty amazing."

"So he makes your body sing, what about the rest?" Daisy asked.

"My body sing?  What on earth have you been reading?" Rose asked with a laugh.

Daisy smiled and said "Some stupid romance novel of moms."

"We definitely need to get you something better to read" Rose said, before adding "Things are good.  We're taking everything slow.  And again, it's not something we've talked about.  It's just how it's happened and I'm OK with it."

Lily was frowning at her sister.  "So you've never talked about the future?"

Rose shook her head.  "No and I'm OK with that" she repeated, needing Lily to hear that and not go into protective big sister mode.  "Honestly with all the crap that's happened in the last week I can't even imagine the future past the next few days.  And you" she said, pointing a finger at Lily "had better not say anything to him."  Lily gave her an innocent look, doing her best to look wounded that Rose thought she would do that.  "I know you Lily, and I know how you get.  You already gave Dean the whole "Don't hurt my sister" spiel so consider your job done."  She narrowed her eyes and added "I'm not joking.  I'll actually be really pissed if you do."  Lily nodded her agreement and Rose added with a grin "If nothing else you can comfort yourself with the fact he's giving me amazing orgasms."

Lily choked, Rose's comment catching her off guard as they often did.  "Yes, that'll be my consolation.  Thanks for that."

Daisy was quiet, Rose realized and she turned to look at her and found her once again lost in her own thoughts, with a sad look on her face.  "Earth to Daisy" Rose said and Daisy seemed to shake herself and come back to the room.  "Are you OK?" Rose asked and Daisy nodded.

"Ya, sorry.  I'm just tired I think. I didn't sleep well last night.  In fact" she said, standing as she spoke and gathering up her bag and magazine "I think I may go take a nap."  And she walked off, heading to the room the boys had set her up in, leaving her sisters to stare after her and wonder at her out of character behavior.

"OK that was weird, right?" Lily asked, sitting up to stare after their sister.

"Mm hmm" Rose murmured.

"Great, let's add Daisy weirdness to the mix" Lily said, flopping back on the couch.

"Think we should go after her?" Rose asked, finishing up one hand and starting to paint the nails on the other, but Lily shook her head.

"Na, she's been stuck with Mom for two days.  She probably could use some alone time."  She was stretched out on the one couch, facing Rose where she sat on the floor, so she had a good view of her face.  She studied her now.

“Hey Rosie, were you being totally honest?”  At Rose’s questioning look she clarified what she meant.  “About you and Dean.  Are you really OK about not talking about the future?”

Rose nodded.  “I am, Lil.  Really.  This has all just been so much so quickly, so much change, so much upheaval.  Dean’s been my rock through it.  I don’t know that I’m honestly even up for talking about the future myself.”  Rose paused, trying to think of how best to explain it so her sister would understand.  “Keep in mind, you and Sam were a lot more involved than Dean and I were before any of this started.  I know, I walked in on you, remember?  More than once.” Lily laughed and nodded.  “So you guys have been pretty heavily involved for awhile now.”

“How long have you two been, what are you calling it?” Lily asked.

“I don’t even know what we call it.  It’s just us.”  She remembered something then.  “Dean called us involved the other day, so I guess that works.”  She scrunched her nose up, thinking back.  “It’s been a little over a year for us now.  But I’m talking kissing, making out and talking, that’s it.  Things got way more intense when we got here.”  She screwed the lid on her nail polish, having finished with her nails.

Lily nodded her head.  “Ya, me and Sam just kind of jumped in with both feet from the get go, at least on the physical side.  Ya know, like I do with everything.” She laughed and Rose joined in, knowing what a true statement that was.  “It was supposed to just be a bit of fun.  I mean, he’s a nice guy, super hot.  I knew he wasn’t going to turn out to be some psycho or anything.” Rose nodded, knowing with some of the guys Lily had dated in the past that wasn’t always a given.  “And then somewhere along the way it just kind of became something more.”  Lily smiled and it was a soft, gentle smile that she didn’t often show.  “I realized at some point that I actually liked talking to him, not just sleeping with him.  And I trust him.  And did you know I can make him laugh so easily?” Rose shook her head, loving this.  “Oh ya, I amuse him.  And when he’s amused the dimples come out and God knows I’m a sucker for those.”  Rose nodded enthusiastically at that, being a fan of the Winchester dimples herself.  Lily smiled again and then shook her head.  “We were supposed to be talking about you and Dean, not me and Sam.”

“I kind of like hearing about you and Sam” Rose said, with a happy smile on her face.  “I love seeing you both happy.  It makes _me_ happy.”

“It is pretty awesome, isn’t it?” Lily said with a grin and Rose nodded, grinning right back at her.  “And it’s nice to not have to explain why you and Daisy are so important.  No stupid comments about spending too much time with my sisters.”  Lily said with an agitated eye roll that Rose more than understood.  A lot of guys saw their closeness as some kind of threat.  “OK, but getting back to you and Dean” Lily ignored Rose’s groan.  She wasn’t one to give up easily. “I just want to make sure you’re happy.”

“I am.  Seriously.”  She smiled softly and continued.  “And as long as he’s happy and I’m happy I don’t really care about plans.  As long as he’s not hooking up with someone else I’m good.  And honestly, Lil, I don't know that I'm ever going to be that woman who wants a ring and a promise."

"Hey no one said anything about a ring" Lily said quickly.

"You know what I mean, Lil" Rose said with a smile.

“Hmm, maybe” Lily said quietly, not completely sure she was buying all this.  Rose had always seemed like the forever type to her.  She was way more a romantic than Lily ever was.  “So you’re trying to tell me there are no feelings involved here?  Because I’ve seen you two together and-”

Rose shook her head quickly.  “I never said that.  There are definitely feelings.”  Rose sighed, knowing she was going to have to say more than she wanted to. “OK honestly, you know how I’ve always felt about Dean.”  Lily nodded, that being her biggest concern.  “There’s a lot that’s unspoken between us, on both our parts, Lil but it’s there.  And in time, when it’s right we’ll say it.  But not yet.”  She shrugged.  “For now, just know I trust him and he makes me happy, OK?  And I think, I hope, I make him happy too.  And that’s enough.”

Lily nodded thoughtfully.  “You do.  Sam’s commented on how happy Dean is with you.”  Rose gave a self satisfied smile.  More than anything she wanted the people who were the most important to her to be happy.  “You’re right, Rosie.  I’ll stop badgering you.  Sorry, just my big sister instincts kicking in.”

Rose smiled at her and came over to give her a hug, before saying she was going to go check out the library.  Lily decided to stay in the living room and watched Rose leave, thinking over their conversation.  She’d watched her sister with Dean her entire life, knowing how much Rose cared about him.  She knew that every single guy Rose ever dated was sub-consciously measured up against him and found somehow lacking.  It wasn’t that Lily didn’t trust Dean, it was just that she saw a lot of herself in Dean and she certainly was no picnic to be in a relationship with.  She figured the only reason her and Sam were doing so well was because they had gone into this not expecting a relationship and just been pleasantly surprised to find they had one.  She sighed, knowing she couldn’t stick her nose into this.  Sam and Rose would both kill her.  But boy, did she want to.  And if Dean hurt Rose nothing Sam or Rose could say would stop Lily from hurting Dean too.  She groaned and laid her head back on the couch.  Sometimes being a big sister really sucked.


	33. There's a Rule That Goes Unwritten

Rose walked into the library, feeling like a kid in a candy store, a candy store that was currently empty of anyone else.  If there was a more beautiful sight than a gorgeous, empty library Rose didn’t know what it was.  She paused, reconsidering and decided that Dean could probably give it a run for it’s money.  But taking people out of the running, an empty library was Rose’s idea of heaven on earth.

She walked around the tables, dragging her hand over the backs of the wooden chairs, tracing her hands over the books on the shelves and just generally reveling in the beauty of her surroundings.  She felt almost giddy with joy.  She quickly went back to her room, grabbing her laptop and her iPod and brought both back to the library, setting them up and getting ready to do some research.  She wandered through the shelves, pulling some books down that looked like they could be useful and bringing them back to her spot at the table.  She got her laptop on the wifi, put her headphones on and cracked open her first book.  Rose understood completely why Dean was so big on her learning to protect herself and while she wasn’t as horrified by it all as she had been a few days ago, it was never going to be her default.  Books and knowledge were home for Rose.  The next few hours flew by and Rose read and researched to her heart’s content, back in her element.  At some point Lily wandered in and waved at Rose till she took her headphones off, to say she was going to grab some lunch and did Rose want anything.  Rose shook her head but Lily brought her back a drink and a snack, knowing from experience that Rose would forget to eat or drink unless food was placed in front of her.  Rose smiled in a distracted way and barely looked up.

The next thing she knew a pair of hands were gently pulling her headphones off her ears.  She looked up in surprise to find Dean standing over her, her headphones in his hands.  While she watched he put the headphones on his ears, listened for a second then smirked at her as he took them off.  “Interesting choice in music” he said.

“Dean!” She said in surprise.  “When did you get back?”  Dean leaned down and kissed her hello, smiling at her dazed look.

“About 15 minutes ago.  I actually sat down across from you for 10 minutes at least and you never even noticed.”  Dean looked more amused than irritated.  He swore he could have done a song and dance routine and she wouldn’t have even noticed.

“Sorry” Rose said, with a guilty smile.  “I tend to get tunnel vision when I’m researching.”

“So I see” Dean said with a smile, taking a seat next to her.  “Having fun?”  He would never really get her love for libraries and research but he knew it was something that made her happy.  That was enough for him.

Rose nodded enthusiastically.  “This library is amazing” she said, her eyes shining.

“Find anything good?” He asked, looking with interest at what she had been typing on her laptop.

“Maybe?  I think so.  I want to see what Daisy found as well first.”

Dean nodded.  “Where is Daisy?” he asked.

“In her room, I think” Rose said, looking around herself for the first time in hours.  “Of course that was a few hours ago…”

“This is why she needs a babysitter when she researches” Lily said, coming into the room, stretching, followed closely by Sam.  “Did you eat the snack I brought you?” she asked.  Rose showed her the empty plate and Lily nodded approvingly.  “Good girl.”

Rose rolled her eyes while Dean and Sam both laughed.  “I’m not five, Lily.  I am actually capable of taking care of myself.”

“Oh ya?  Well if it wasn’t for me you wouldn’t have eaten anything since this morning, so just hush” Lily said in her best bossy tone.  Rose stuck her tongue out and Lily threw a piece of crumpled up paper off the table at her.  “Brat” Lily said, affectionately.

Sam chuckled and looked at Dean.  “And I thought you were bad.”

“Yes, thank you, Lily for proving I am not the most over protective sibling in the world” Dean said.  Both brothers got a glare from Lily for their exchange but Sam kissed her quickly and murmured something in her ear that got a smile.

Sam and Lily both took a seat at the table.  “Is Daisy still in her room?” Rose asked and Lily shrugged in return.  Rose stood with a sigh.  “OK, let me see if I can find her and we can get a look at what she found.  I could do with stretching my legs anyway.”

Rose headed down the hallway towards the room Daisy was staying in.  She stopped at the door and knocked lightly but got no response.  She opened the door herself and stuck her in head in, looking around.  The room looked to be in the general state of chaos that any room Daisy stayed in eventually wound up in.  Rose walked in, seeing her sister asleep on the bed.  She started to walk towards her and stopped, hearing a strange noise and trying to figure out what it was.  It almost sounded like…traffic?  That made no sense though so with a slight shake of her head Rose kept going till she reached her sisters side.  She sat down on the bed next to Daisy and reached out to shake her.  The second her hand touched Daisy’s shoulder though, she suddenly found herself in an unfamiliar landscape.

With a gasp, Rose looked around herself, confused as to where she was.  It was a city street, but not one she knew.  In the distance she could hear the sound of traffic though she couldn’t actually see any cars.  The street she was on seemed to be full of shops, their windows full of different wares, everything from clothes to groceries but there were no other people around that she could see. That was odd.  A city street full of shops on what appeared to be an afternoon day should have been full of people.  Rose started to walk towards the sounds of traffic and realized as she moved further down the street that she could hear voices, soft ones but growing louder as she moved on.

“-always wanted to come here.  How did you know?”  That was Daisy’s voice, of that Rose was sure.

“I could see it in your mind.  It was something that seemed important to you.”  A pause and then a man’s voice Rose couldn’t quite place continued.  “The tower was important, I gather.”

“Oh yes, and it’s quite impressive.  Thank you.”  Looking around the corner of the building right in front of her Rose caught sight of the tower in question.  The Eiffel Tower no less.  So this was Paris!  Rose couldn’t shake off the little thrill of excitement that brought her.

“-endless.  So you see you won’t lack for choice.”  The man had started talking again while Rose was marveling over being in Paris and she’d missed part of what he said.  “You did say they looked happy?”

“Yes” Daisy didn’t sound happy herself now and Rose frowned, not liking this turn of events and feeling a sudden wave of sadness wash over herself. She stopped walking now, wanting to hear what they said.  “They looked happy and you were right obviously.  It does have to be me.”

“I promise I will do everything in my power to make it as easy on you as I conceivably can.”  The man paused then continued.  “If I could I would take you all out of harm’s way but that doesn’t seem possible.”

“No, I understand” Daisy said and Rose thought it sounded like she was crying.

“You’re upset.  If there was any other way, Daisy, you have to know I-” Rose moved slightly to the left, peering further around the corner and had to stop herself from gasping out loud at what she saw.  There was Daisy seated at a beautiful Parisian café.  She was dressed like a fashion magazines best fantasy, from the over the top hat all the way down to the outrageously expensive shoes and all the finer things in between.  The table in front of her was covered in Parisian pastries, of every shape and size, each one more stunning than the last.  And seated with Daisy at the table was none other than Castiel.  He had stopped mid-sentence when he saw her, causing Daisy to turn in her seat.  The look on her face was one of utter shock and surprise.  Without even finishing his sentence Castiel disappeared.

“Rose!  What are you doing here?  How did you get in my dream?” Daisy quickly wiped her face and pulled herself together.  Rose could feel the waves of surprise rolling off of Daisy and felt them wash over her.  She remembered the last time she had been in Daisy’s dream that all their emotions were shared.  This time seemed to be no different.

Rose walked out from behind the building now and walked over to Daisy at the table.  “I went to wake you up” Rose said, staring at the table of pastries.  She couldn’t help herself.  She reached out a hand and picked up a delectable looking éclair from the table and bit into it.  “Oh my God, Daisy, these are amazing.”

Daisy rolled her eyes at her sister.  “Of course they are.  They're French pastries, Rose.”

Rose swallowed, feeling a wave of anger and looked at Daisy closely.  “You’re mad.”

“You’re in my freaking dream!” Daisy yelled.  “What do you expect?”

Rose pulled back, surprised by the vehemence in Daisy’s voice.  “Not on purpose.”  She took another bite of éclair, rolling her eyes.  “You should eat one, Days.”

“I don’t want one, Rose” Daisy said, acidly getting to her feet.  She reached out a hand and grabbed Rose’s arm, pulling her along.  “We need to go.”

Rose didn’t want to go though.  She pulled back from Daisy.  “Why?  You’ve got all these yummy pastries and we’re in Paris.  Why can’t we stay?”

“They’ll be missing us by now, Rose.  Come on.  We have to go.” Daisy grabbed Rose’s arm again.  She stopped when she realized Rose still had the éclair in her hand.  “You need to put the éclair down now, Rose.”

“No freaking way” Rose said, taking another bite.  “This is the best éclair I have ever tasted.  It may in fact be the best food I’ve ever tasted.”  A huge wave of fear hit her then and she looked up to see genuine terror on Daisy’s face.  “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing” Daisy said, trying to mask her fear.  “We just need to go now.  Please put the éclair down, Rosie.”

Rose took the last bite and smiled at her sister.  “All gone!”  She looked around suddenly, remembering something.  “Hey where did Cas go?”  She looked at Daisy to see her sister shaking her head at her in dismay.

And suddenly a black curtain was covering the world.

* * *

Strong hands were shaking Rose and a desperate voice was speaking very loudly in her ear.  “Rosie, Rosie, wake up!  I swear to God, if you don’t wake up-“

Rose opened her eyes slowly to stare into a pair of very worried green ones.  “Dean?” she croaked out.  “Why am I…what’s going on?”

Dean looked like he might literally cry from relief.  He gathered her in his arms and pulled her roughly to his chest.  “That’s a damn good question, Baby.”  Looking behind him he asked “How is she, guys?”

“She’s coming around as well” Rose heard Sam say.  She realized she was on Daisy’s bed.  The last thing she remembered was sitting on the bed beside Daisy and trying to wake her.  She brought her hand up to her head, wincing at the pain radiating from the base of her skull and spreading out over her whole head.

Dean noticed her touching her head.  “Does your head hurt?” He asked, all worry and concern.

Rose nodded.  “Yes, I, did I fall asleep?” she said, sounding dazed even to her own ears.

Lily’s face appeared next to Rose and she realized Lily had been perched on the other side of the bed, next to Daisy.  “Are you OK, Rosie?” she asked worriedly.

Rose just nodded, not completely sure if that was actually the truth or not.  Her head ached terribly and she felt slightly dizzy and off kilter.  Dean had pulled back to look at Rose's face.  His hands cupped her face gently, staring into her eyes intently, trying to gauge is she really was OK.

“She walked into my dream” Daisy said abruptly and Dean’s eyes flew to Daisy, then back to Rose.

Rose’s head was so clouded; she felt she couldn’t think straight.  “Were we eating?” she asked Daisy.

Sam stood up, moving off the bed so Daisy and Rose could see each other clearly.  Daisy gave Rose a weird, half smile.  “Well some of us were.” When Rose gave Daisy a confused look she explained.  “You wouldn’t stop eating the pastries.”

Rose looked confused.  She could feel the images from the dream just there, slightly out of reach but she seemed unable to get them to come into focus.  Whereas last time the whole dream was as clear as remembering a movie this time it was hazy and unfocused.  And Daisy seemed perfectly fine while she felt like someone had taken an ice pick to her head.  She gave Daisy an irritated look.  “Why are you OK and I feel like crap?”

Daisy shrugged.  “Maybe because it was my dream and you barged into it?  I wasn’t trying to show you anything this time, Rose.  You just waltzed in uninvited.”  Daisy didn’t sound happy about it either.

“Well how was I supposed to know that would happen?” Rose asked irritably.  A hand appeared in front of her face holding a glass of water and some aspirin and Rose looked up into Sam’s kind eyes.  She hadn’t even realized he’d left the room.  “Thanks, Sammy” she said, taking the aspirin gratefully.  “And why didn’t any of the rest of you get sucked in?”

Everyone looked at each other questioningly, not really having an answer to that one.  Finally Sam ventured a guess.  “Maybe because it’s yours and Daisy’s power combination that does it, um, maybe she would have to want to want to show us her dream?  Or it could be that we would have to be here when she went in, that only you can break into her dream whenever you want.”  Sam shrugged.  He was pretty much spitballing here.  He would research all this later.

“Great” Rose grumbled.  “Lucky me.”  She rubbed her head, trying to clear it.  “Why is it all fuzzy?  Last time I could remember everything clearly, this time it’s all-"  she motioned with her hands in a crazy circular pattern “Cloudy, like little disconnected images.”

Sam shrugged.  “Again, maybe because you went in mid dream.  I don’t really know, Rose but I’ll see what I can dig up later.”

“Stupid freaking powers…messing with my head” Rose muttered.

“I think you need to lay down for a bit, Baby” Dean said, looking at her with concern.

“No, no, no, I do not want to lie down!” Rose said, hotly.  “Do you know how much time I have spent in bed in the last week?  And not even in a fun way.”  A room of surprised faces stared at her and Rose was dimly aware that she was overreacting but she couldn’t seem to stop herself.  “I am sick of these powers just popping up whenever and however they choose.  I can’t even wake my sister up without being sucked into another damn country!”  Great, now they were all looking at her like she was nuts.  Well, except Daisy.  She just looked uncomfortable.  Why was that? Rose wondered.  “What were you dreaming about, Daisy?  Maybe if you tell me I’ll remember.”

Daisy looked like someone had just backed her into a corner that she very much did not want to be in.  Her eyes flew from Rose’s face to the others in the room.  “I um, I don’t really remember much-"

“You remembered pastries” Rose said.

‘Well yes, um, there were pastries, you’re right” Daisy was fidgeting with the blanket now, not meeting anyone eyes.

“And what else?” Rose asked, not giving Daisy any time to come up with a cover story.

“I don’t know, maybe we were in a place?” Daisy said lamely.

Rose narrowed her eyes.  “A place?  That’s all you have?”  She felt irrationally angry and irritated.  She couldn’t say why but she was extremely agitated and Daisy’s vague answers were making it worse.  “Why don’t I believe you?”

“Hey, back off, Rose” Lily said, putting her hand on Rose’s shoulder.

Rose shrugged her hand off angrily.  “Shut up!  Quit telling me what to do, Lily!”  She glared at her older sister then turned accusing eyes to her younger one.  “You’re lying.  I know it.  I know you remember way more than you’re saying.”

Daisy looked up at Rose, her eyes big and wide and an innocent, a hurt expression on her face.  “I don’t.”  Sam and Dean were watching this all play out in a mild state of shock.  Rose was acting completely out of character, and no one really seemed to know how to react.

“Liar!” Rose yelled, causing everyone to jump.  “You are lying, Daisy!  I know you are.  Now tell the truth!”  Rose lunged forward and grabbed the front of Daisy’s shirt, pulling her close to her face.  Daisy’s face had gone as white as a sheet and she seemed to shrink under her sister’s angry gaze.  That snapped Dean out of his stupor enough that he grabbed Rose by the waist and pulled her off the bed and away from Daisy.

“OK that’s enough of that!” He said, hauling her against him.  Rose struggled in his arms, her feet kicking at his shins and her body writhing against him.

“Let me go!” she shrieked.  Dean shot Sam a look and got a nod that he had this under control and Dean reached down and hauled Rose up over his shoulder.  He wrapped his arms around her legs to keep her from kicking.  “You let me go, Dean Winchester!”

Without another word he carried her out of the room and down the hall towards her room.  She was fighting him the whole way, twisting and turning, or trying to as much as his arms would allow.

“Quit fighting, Rose.  You aren’t going anywhere” Dean muttered.

“Oh, yes I am.  You let me down right now!” Her voice was loud enough to carry throughout the bunker.

“Ain’t gonna happen, sweetheart so you might as well cut it out.”  Dean’s hand slapped her bottom and she let out a loud shriek.

You hit me!  You can’t do that!”  Her voice carried and Sam was faced with a shocked Lily staring at him.  “He wouldn’t hit her” He assured Lily, then paused, adding "Well he might, uh, smack her butt."

“Ya, well looks like I did” Dean said, nearing her room.  Her knees were purposely digging into his chest.  “Damn it, Rose, cut it out!”

Just as they got to her room Rose twisted her head till her teeth found Dean’s neck and she bit him, unable to get as deep a bite as she wanted but a bite she got nonetheless.

Dean froze, feeling Rose's teeth biting into his skin.  He let out a yelp and dropped her to her feet with a thump and his patience went with her.  "Hey!" He grasped her chin roughly and jerked her face so her eyes met his.

Even through her foggy, emotion filled mind Rose took in Dean's angry face and she felt a shiver go down her spine.  An angry Dean Winchester was not to be messed with.  Even in her addled state Rose knew this.

While one hand gripped her chin the other held her tightly by the waist, giving her no room to move. "I don't know what's going on with you but it stops now."  He gave her a look that would have caused a demon itself to run in terror.  To Rose's credit she didn't flinch, though she did quiver.  "Bite me again little girl, and I will spank your ass for real and it won't be any kind of game."

Rose glared up at him an unhappy pout on her face.  “Mean” she hissed, pulling away from him and Dean let her go.  She turned, pushed the door to her room open and collapsed on the bed.  Running a hand through his hair Dean walked in behind her and into the bathroom to look at his neck where she had bit him.  Sure enough there was a clear impression of her teeth on his skin.  “Damn, she’s got some sharp little teeth on her” he muttered.  Walking back into the bedroom he checked she was ok.  She was out cold, breathing deep and even.   With a shake of his head he closed the door behind him, leaving her to sleep off whatever the hell this was.


	34. And I Break it From Time to Time

Dean came to bed a few hours later.  Rose was still soundly asleep and he crawled into bed next to her.  She automatically turned towards him and snuggled against him.  Looking down at her sleeping so peacefully and looking as sweet and innocent as could be, it was hard to imagine this was the same girl who had thrown a full blown fit just a few hours earlier, who had bit him no less.  (“She bit you?” Sam had said, his voice ringing with disbelief.  Dean just showed him his neck.) Sam had some theories about what had happened, why Rose had reacted like she did, all something to do with transferred emotions or empathy or something.  Dean was too tired tonight to take it all in so he had just done a lot of nodding and came to bed sooner rather than later.  For now, he just wanted to hold Rose and sleep.  Wrapping his arms around her, he kissed her forehead and let sleep overtake him.

* * *

“Hi Dean!” The next thing Dean knew he was standing in someone’s bedroom.  He looked around slowly, realizing it was Rose’s room from her house, though it looked a little different.  There was her bed and Lily’s bed (That was one of the differences Dean realized.) her canopy with the stars and there was Rose herself…except this Rose was much, much younger.  Dean wasn’t good at figuring out kids ages but from his memories of what Rose looked like when they were growing up he would guess she was about six.  She was sitting under the stars, looking up at him with a wide smile, obviously pleased to see him.  Her hair was a mass of out of control red waves and she was dressed in a pink princess costume, right down to the tiara and pink sparkly shoes.

“Um, hi, Rosie?”  That got him an enthusiastic nod of her head and an even bigger smile.  He’d obviously finally lost his mind.  How else could you explain this?

Little Rose giggled.  “You’re not crazy silly, you’re dreaming.”

“You can read my mind?” Dean asked, looking alarmed.

“No, silly, I just know you.  Remember we’ve been best friends forever.”  Dean smiled, remembering that Rose did love to say that about them when they were little.  OK, so a dream.  He could handle this.

“So what are we doing here, Rosie?” Dean asked, wandering around the room.  It really was her room from when she was six, right down to the last detail.  Her dollhouse was here and all the toys she’d played with growing up, even Jellybean her bear was here, looking much brighter than he did now.

“We needed to talk.  I don’t want you to be mad at me when you wake up, ok?”

“Why would I be-oh, you mean in real life, because you bit me.” 

Little Rose was shaking her head.  “I didn’t bite you.”

“Ya, well my neck would beg to differ, Princess.”  God, he really had been calling her that a long time.

“I mean, I did bite you but it wasn’t really my choice.  I was really mad."  Little Rose looked at him, a serious look on her face. "But it wasn't really me who was really mad at all."

Dean ran that over in his head, trying to straighten that out and failing.  He turned to Rose with a perplexed expression and she sighed, looking like he really should be getting this.  Great, another version of Rose with attitude.  Just what he needed.

“I have powers, right?  I mean, the grown up me does.  I can whap people with stuff and move things around, right?”  Dean nodded.  “So if I was so mad how come I didn’t do any of that?”

That made Dean stop.  He hadn’t thought of that.  When Rose's emotions were out of control, with anger or fear or whatever, her powers were out of control too.  As mad as she had been things should have been flying around like they were in a cyclone.  So why weren’t they?

Little Rose smiled, seeing Dean understood what she meant.  “See?  I knew you would get it.  You’re so smart, Dean.”

“Uh huh.  OK, so how about you explain to me what happened then?”  Dean had no idea what the hell this really was, but he figured any info he got couldn’t do any harm.  He came over and sat by Rose under the stars.  Ya, this wasn’t surreal or anything.

“Rose, the grownup up one, she went into Daisy’s dream and Daisy didn’t want her there.”  Little Rose frowned.  “There was stuff there she didn’t want anyone else to see and she was so angry that Rose was there.”  Little Rose threw her hands in the air.  “And when Rose woke up all those angry, mean feelings went into Rose and she couldn’t get rid of them.  But they weren’t really hers feelings so nothing went flying.”

Dean thought this over, focusing on what she said about the feelings first.  He guessed that would make sense.  Emotions that weren’t really hers might not make her powers go crazy, he supposed.  He wasn’t exactly an expert on this stuff but in his head that made sense.  Now about the dream stuff…

“Can you remember what was in Daisy’s dream, Rosie?” Dean asked.

“Only a little bit.  They were in a far off place and there was a man there with wings” Little Rose frowned.  “’Cept I didn’t see wings but that’s how I think of him in my head.” That must be Cas, Dean realized.  “Oh and there was dessert, lots and lots of dessert!”  This fact excited Little Rose so much she clapped her hands and looked at Dean excitedly.  She obviously viewed this part as the highlight of the dream.  Some things didn't change.  "But Daisy wasn't excited about the dessert and got mad at Rose for eating some."

“Why didn’t Daisy want Rose to see her dream?" Dean mused aloud.  “What the hell is she hiding?”

“You said a bad word!” Little Rose said, looking at Dean with wide eyes.

Dean winked at her.  “Ya, sorry about that Princess.” Little Rose giggled at him and Dean couldn’t help but smile.  She really was a cute kid.

“You have to go back now” Rose said, standing up and straightening out her dress.  She smiled at Dean.  “Now, promise you won’t be mad, K?”  Dean nodded his head and Little Rose smiled at him, before leaning over and placing a kiss on his cheek.

* * *

Dean sat up with a start, his eyes flying open.  He looked next to him and Rose (the adult version, thank God) was curled up next to him still asleep.  He sat there for a minute, considering getting out of bed and waking Sam to tell him about it, then reconsidered.  He pulled his phone off the nightstand and made a note to himself, writing down every detail and then he lay back down.  He’d tell Sam in the morning.  No use waking him up now.  Looking over at Rose, he brushed a kiss across her forehead.  “You really were a cute kid, Baby” he murmured, before closing his eyes and drifting back to sleep.

* * *

A few hours later Rose woke up.  She had no idea what time it was but a glance at her clock told her it was just after two.  She glanced over at Dean in the dim light from the bathroom and saw he was soundly asleep.  The memories of the night before came rushing back and she stifled a moan.  What the hell was happening to her life?  With a sigh she realized she was wide awake and there was no way she was going to be able to fall back asleep.  She got out of bed as quietly as possible, grabbing some clothes from a chair and heading into the bathroom to change.  She noticed what she was wearing when she got in there (The t-shirt she had been wearing yesterday, her bra and panties) and figured Dean must have partially undressed her before he went to bed himself.  She changed into a set of Yummy Sushi pajamas and some warm fuzzy socks before sneaking out of the bedroom.  She was impressed she was able to get out without waking Dean, but not surprised.  She was raised by a hunter and had spent her life with two sisters who were much louder than her.  When she wanted to Rose could turn being quiet into an art form.

Rose was also a habitual insomniac, so being up while everyone else was asleep was nothing new to her.  She wandered down the hall of the bunker that took her past most of the bedrooms and loved the stillness of it.  Going by Lily and Sam’s room (Hmm, and when had she started to think of it that way? A few days ago it had just been Sam’s room.) she heard one of them snoring, though she wasn’t going to venture a guess as to which one it was.  She made her way to the kitchen, when her stomach rumbled; reminding her she’d only had a snack since early this morning.  A late night snack was in order. 

Rose fixed herself a peanut butter sandwich and made herself some hot tea, her idea of comfort food.  While she ate she played over what had happened the night before.  She couldn’t believe she had acted that way.  She frowned, remembering how angry she had felt.  Rose was no stranger to anger.  She would be the first to admit that when pushed she had a temper but that hadn’t felt like her.  Aside from her one and only time of biting Danny when she was drunk (And much younger and stupider, she felt the need to add) she wasn’t one to get physical.  Words were usually her weapon of choice.  And Dear God, she had bit Dean.  She buried her head in her hands.  God, he must be ready to kill her.  Then again, she had woke up next to him, with him cuddled against her.  That didn’t seem like something an angry Dean would do.

Well, in any case she knew one of the quickest ways to his heart was through food.  She checked to make sure they had everything she needed and quickly whipped up a cherry pie.  Just as she was about to pop it in the oven her phone surprised her by buzzing.  Picking it up she was pleasantly surprised to see a text from a friend she hadn’t heard from in awhile.  Chastity tended to keep the same late hours she did, (though for much different reasons) and they would quite often chat late at night, when most everyone else Rose knew was asleep.  Chastity had been out of town for a bit and then all the chaos had hit Rose’s life so it had been a few weeks since they had talked.  Rose quickly texted her back to say she was awake, popped the pie in the oven and set a timer on her phone.

Rose headed toward the library and quickly turned her laptop on.  Logging into Facebook a message window popped up almost as soon as she got on.  Chastity proceeded to tell her about her trip out of town and Rose gave her a very edited version of what had been going on in her life.  Turning her iPod on she hummed along, feeling she was far enough away from any of the people sleeping that she could forego the headphones.  Giggling at a tale Chastity was sharing she remembered to tell her about the dungeon, knowing she would love it.  Her carefully edited version made it into a trip to an older house that just happened to have a dungeon in the basement.  As predicted Chastity was thrilled, wanting to know all about the restraints.  Rose laughed, thinking what an odd life she lived.  After chatting for a bit Chastity had to go, making Rose promise she’d stay in touch better.  Rose spent some time on Facebook, catching up on what had been going on in the world and more specifically, her friends’ lives while she had been out of commission.  One of her best friends from high school had posted new pictures of her toddler, a curly haired little boy who smiled mischievously at the camera.  Another had gotten engaged and Rose added her congratulations to her page, knowing this relationship had been hard fought for by both people involved.  One of her co-workers had finally ditched her horrible boyfriend.  Basically life had been going on as normal while Rose was running and hiding and adjusting to a completely different life than she had imagined.  She sighed.  Life could do that.  The life she had envisioned when she was younger certainly hadn’t looked like this.  Then again, it hadn’t looked anything like her life did a week ago either.  Well except Dean.  She had always known, had always wanted him to be a part of her future.  She hadn’t had a clear idea of how but she just knew she’d always wanted him as part of it.  But aside from Dean, there was supposed to be a complete college degree, a job she loved, a home outside of Hastings.  And none of those things had happened.

The timer on her phone buzzed and Rose headed to the kitchen, pulling the pie out of the oven.  It looked perfect.  Hopefully that would serve as a peace offering for Dean.  She headed back to the library, deciding to stop her pity party.  She thought about doing some more research but instead wound up playing around online, checking some fan sites she liked and singing along to her iPod.  She used the time as well to do what she’d been doing any time she had a minute alone for the last few days: working on her telekinesis.  She was flipping pencils over a book, midair in an odd aerial display when she heard a sleepy voice ask:

“Hey, what are you doing up?” Rose stopped singing mid-song, and raised her head to see a drowsy looking Sam standing in the doorway.  She shrugged, lowering the pencils and book to the table.  She watched Sam, watch them all the way to the table.

“Couldn’t sleep.”

"You managed to make it out of your room without waking Dean?" Sam asked and Rose nodded.  "Impressive."

"What can I say?  I'm the queen of stealth" Rose said with a smile.  “How about you?”

Sam shrugged.  “Just woke up.  I do that sometimes.  Thought I might do some research.”  Sam came over and took a seat across from her, stretching his long legs out.  He had a serious case of bed head and Rose couldn’t help but smile.  “You feeling OK?”  Sam asked.

Rose nodded.  “Ya…just really embarrassed.”

Sam chuckled.  “You did put on quite the show.”

Rose winced and Sam changed the subject, figuring this would be discussed enough the next morning.  “I like the song.”  He said, motioning to her iPod.

“I do too” Rose said, then scrunched her nose up.  “Don’t tell Dean.  It’s country.”

Sam looked confused.  “I thought country was all cowboys and twang.”

“Nope.  It gets a bad rap” Rose said decisively.

“So I take it you’ve been working on that?” Sam said, motioning to the book and pencils, all neatly laid out on the table now.

Rose nodded, trying to gauge what his reaction was.  He nodded and said “Probably a good idea” and Rose smiled.

“Can I ask you a question?” Rose asked suddenly, her mind going back to her earlier thoughts.  Sam nodded and Rose asked “You did the college thing, right?” Sam nodded cautiously, not sure where this was going.  “Do you ever regret not graduating?  Not finishing it?”

Sam sighed.  “That’s not an easy answer, Rosie.”  Rose nodded, acknowledging this and Sam seemed be mulling his answer over.  “If you had asked me two years ago I would have said a definite yes, I regretted not finishing.  I liked college, I was good at it.”  Rose smiled, knowing just what he meant.  “I was mad at Dean for awhile for coming and getting me, mad at my Dad, mad at…things that happened.”  Rose nodded again, knowing what he was referring to, not making him say it.  “But now, well what if I had finished?  Would that degree help me any now?  Would it be of any use?" He looked at his hands thoughtfully for a moment and then said “I’m from a family of hunters.  I can run from it, hell I _did_ run from it for years, and I got no further away from it than when I began.  Or I can embrace it and use the skills I learned here, doing some good and helping people.”  Rose nodded, taking in what he said.

“So how do you look at those years you spent at Stanford then?  Wasted time?”

Sam looked at Rose thoughtfully.  She was really going down a path tonight.  He shook his head.  “No, it definitely wasn’t wasted time.  I know Dean doesn’t like to hear it but I needed that time away on my own.  If I hadn’t gone to Stanford, if I hadn’t done my own thing for at least a bit I don’t think I could have ever settled into this life.  I think I would probably still be fighting it, convinced that somehow I could have a normal life.”  He looked pensively at his hands then and ran a hand through his hair before continuing.  “I grew up a lot during that time, learned to function on my own away from my family and got a better idea of who I was apart from them.”  He shook his head.  “I don’t know if it’s a hunter thing or if it’s just special to our families, but families like ours Rose, they can swallow you up.  At college I could just be Sam.  When I said my last name I didn’t get any knowing looks.  My name was just my last name, not some legacy I was born into.”  Rose nodded, knowing what he meant.  Everyone in the hunting community knew who the Winchesters were.  “I actually hated my last name for awhile because it made me feel trapped, like I had no choice in who I was.  Now, well I’m proud of it, but I’m also just as proud to be Sam.”  He shrugged.  “I got a lot of that at college, or the beginnings of it anyway.  So I look at those years as something I needed, the start of some personal growth, I guess.”  Sam smiled at Rose.  “OK you have my answer.  Now it’s your turn.  Why all the questions?”

“Just thinking about things, roads not taken I guess.”  She smiled then.  “I did less time at college than you, ya know.  Two full years.”

“I forgot about that” Sam admitted.  “Princeton right?”

“Yep, English scholarship.  I was going to be a teacher or maybe work for a publisher.”  She shrugged.  “Something with words, with books.  I loved every single second of college.  The classes, the different teachers, even my dorm room.  I missed my family but God, I loved it.”  She frowned, drawing her legs up so she was hugging her knees.  “And then my dad died and my mom fell apart and someone had to be home with Daisy.”  She shrugged.  “So I came home and never left again.”  Rose looked around the library.  “Do you know this is the first time I’ve been away from my house for more than a weekend in years?”  Sam shook his head, unable to fathom that.  Rose was quite for a moment and Sam let her be, could see she was thinking.  Finally she continued.  “I get what you mean you know, about your family swallowing you up.  It sounds great to have people who are protective of you and for the most part it is.  But it can smother you too.  I loved college because for the first time in my life I wasn’t one of the Sullivan girls, or Brendan Sullivan’s daughter.  Not that I’m not proud to be my father’s daughter” Rose hastened to add.  Sam nodded, knowing exactly what she meant.  “But I was just Rose at Princeton and people could like me or hate me based on just that.  It was nice to get to see myself as just myself.”

“So definitely not wasted time” Sam said softly and Rose chuckled.  “Nope, not at all.”

“I must sound like I hate my life" Rose said.  "I don’t, I swear.  I actually really like my life and I’m generally happy, it’s just…I don’t know, being away and having everything be so different so suddenly.”  She shrugged.  “It just makes you think.”

“Nothing wrong with thinking” Sam acknowledged.  “The most important lesson I learned once I came back to this life?  You take whatever happiness you find and you hold onto it with both hands.  You fight for it tooth and nail because it gets you through the darker times.”  He smiled then, a sweet, soft smile that Rose was sure melted Lily's heart every time she saw it. “Your sister played a big part in teaching me that too.”

Rose smiled.  “Ya, Lily has always been really good at the whole seize the day thing."  She frowned.  "I'm much better at thinking about that quote than actually living it.”

Sam chuckled.  "By nature I am too.  But sometimes you have to go outside your comfort zone for your own good." He leaned back in his chair, folding his arms and looking at her thoughtfully.  "You know who else is good at the whole carpe diem thing?  My brother."

Rose smiled. "Ya, he really is."

"If you do things right you don't just wind up with the person you want, you end up with the person you need" Sam said.

"Who said that?" Rose asked curiously.

"Ya know, for the life of me I can't remember" Sam said with a grin.  "Could have been a song lyric or a great philosopher.  Hell, maybe I just made it up.  Either way, the points the same."

"Are you trying to play match maker with me and your brother, Sammy?" Rose asked, a teasing grin on her face.

"Do I need to?" Sam asked raising an eyebrow.

"No, I think we've got that covered, thanks" Rose said dryly.  She paused then said "You make my sister really happy, you know.  Thanks for that." 

Sam blushed but looked pleased at Rose's words.  "Ya, well I've never seen Dean as happy as he is with you."

"Must be the whole biting thing that does it" Rose said and Sam winced.  "And here you are trying to fix me up with him after that." Rose said, shaking her head.  "Some brother you are."

Sam laughed then and stood up.  "I'm going back to bed.  You staying up or-?"

Rose shook her head.  "Na, I'm going to try and get a few more hours too."

Sam nodded and let Rose go ahead of him out of the library.  Rose stopped in the doorway and hugged him, surprising Sam.  He smiled and hugged her back.  “Thanks for the talk, Sammy.  I needed it.”

“Any time, Rosie.  Us college kids, we have to stick together” He said with a wink and Rose laughed.

 When they passed the kitchen Sam sniffed the air.  "Did you make something?" He asked.

"Cherry Pie" Rose said, blushing at such an obvious display.  "I don't want him to be mad at me."

Sam rolled his eyes.  "You could murder somebody and if you made Dean a pie he'd forgive you." He paused then added “Actually, _you_ might not even need pie.  But it’s a nice touch.”

"Good to know" Rose said, heading down the hallway "Though murder isn’t in my immediate plans."

"You spoil him, you know" Sam said as they came to his bedroom door. 

Rose paused, looked down at her feet, then she smiled shyly and said "He deserves it, every bit of it and more.  Night Sammy" and she continued down to her room.

"Night Rosie" he called, before saying softly, too softly for her to hear "And that's why you deserve my brother’s heart." 

And with a smile on his face Sam went into his room, which was no longer just his, and climbed into bed next to Lily and held her tight as he fell back asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song Rose is listening to when Sam comes into the library is Girl Crush by Little Big Town.


	35. I Ain't the Kind You Take Home to Mama

Rose was surprised when she woke up before Dean the next morning.  He wasn’t exactly an early morning guy but he was usually awake before her.  Turning on her side to face him, Rose winced when she saw the vivid bite mark on his neck.  She felt terrible about that.  “I’m so sorry” she whispered softly, even though she knew he couldn't hear her.  Dean was stretched out on his back, one arm under her neck, even in his sleep keeping her close to him.  She lay there, watching him for a bit.  It was rare to see him so still.  Dean always seemed to be moving, or talking or doing something.  The chance to get to lay and just watch him sleep peacefully was a rare treat and one Rose was going to make the most of.

She lay there, drinking in the long eyelashes that most women would kill for, the gorgeous cheekbones and strong jaw and those lips, those luscious, beautiful lips that could make a woman beg for just one more kiss.  She sighed softly, though apparently not softly enough because suddenly a set of fuzzy brown ears perked up behind Dean’s head.  Sookie had made herself right at home, sleeping on Dean’s pillow next to his head.  Hearing Rose she stood up and leisurely walked over to her.

“Oh really?” Rose said, stroking Sookie’s ears.  “I bring one pretty boy into our bed and just like that you’re sleeping by him?”  She stroked Sookie, getting a deep purr for her efforts.  “That’s not exactly a ho’s before bros kind of attitude, Sookie.  Granted, he’s a very pretty boy but still, show some loyalty.”

“You know I can hear you, right?” a deep voice asked, causing Rose to jump.  She looked up from petting Sookie to find Dean’s eyes open and blinking at her sleepily.  “Did you really just call yourself a ho?  And me a pretty boy?” His voice choked a bit on that last phrase.

“Well, I didn’t technically call myself a ho.  That was more a reference to a certain way of thinking.  But yes, I did call you a pretty boy."  She smiled mischievously at Dean.  Sookie looked at the people in her bed and sensing they were going to get up to some silliness took off with a haughty walk, wanting no part of such foolish human things.

Dean quirked an eyebrow her way.  “Rosie?”

“Mmm hmm?” Rose was trailing a hand over his arm now, free to touch him since he was already awake.

“Remember that naughty book I told you I was gonna buy?”

Rose eyes widened and she nodded, her hand stilling on his arm.

“Ya, let’s just say that pretty boy comment is getting written down in the one I keep in my head.”  He smirked at her, tapping his skull. "And we’ll deal with it later.”

“Yes, Dean” she said, smiling softly and leaning her head against his arm.

Dean ran a hand over her head, stroking her hair back from her face.  He gave himself a few minutes to wake up before sighing and saying:

“We need to talk, don’t we?” Dean asked and Rose nodded her head, her smile disappearing.

“Hey” He said, rolling to his side, so he could hold her in his arms and see her face.  “I’m not mad at you.”

Rose looked at him like he was crazy.  “Why not?  I was horrible.  And I bit you!”

Dean nodded.  “Yep, you did and if you had been yourself I would be beyond pissed at you.  But it wasn’t you, was it Rosie?”  Rose shook her head vehemently.  “That’s what I thought.  Now aside from the fact that that whole thing was totally out of character for you, do you want to know how I know it wasn’t you?”  Rose nodded and Dean proceeded to tell her about his dream.  When he was finished Rose just stared at him in shock.

“Everything she said, I mean I, wait, was that me?  God, I’m confused.”

Dean chuckled, knowing the feeling.  “Oh, trust me.  It was you, right down to the princess costume.  I remember you when you were six.”

“OK and is this something that’s happened before or something?  You seem awfully calm about it, Dean.”

“Nope, never happened before.”  He looked thoughtful.  “It was weird but kind of cool, too, you know?  I mean it was you at six but you knew all about your powers now.”

Rose shook her head, not even knowing how to explain any of this.  “Well there you go, something else for us to research.”  Dean made a face and Rose chose to ignore it.  "Anyway, what the kid version of me said is exactly right though.  I felt crazy angry and I couldn’t tell you why.  If it was possible for someone to give you a dose of anger that’s what it felt like.”  She looked thoughtful then.  “I didn’t even think about the fact that my powers didn’t kick in.  What she, I mean I, said makes sense though I guess.”  She gave Dean a smile.  “It’s good to know that six year old dream me is so helpful.”  Dean couldn’t help but chuckle at her comment.

“So you got the part where I’m not mad at you, right?” Dean asked, knowing Rose and that she would beat herself up over this if he wasn’t very clear.  She bit her lip and didn’t look him in the eye.  “Rose” he said sternly.  “Look at me.”  Her blue eyes slowly met his and he could see she was struggling, feeling guilty even thought she logically knew it wasn’t her fault.  “You did nothing wrong.  You weren’t in control.  I’m not mad at you."  He raised an eyebrow at her, before warning her adding "Now if you keep beating yourself up I may _get_ mad at you” and Rose’s eyes took on a panicked look. 

“No, no!  I won’t, I’ll, I’ll let it go, Dean.  Don’t be mad, please.”  The bathroom door flew shut and Rose shut her eyes, concentrating and calming herself down.

“Hey,” Dean said, stroking her hair.  “Hey don’t be upset, Baby.  I was teasing.”  Dean frowned.  Rose was usually OK with being teased.  Hell, a good chunk of their conversations revolved around teasing each other.  She’d never reacted this way before.

Rose took a deep breath and snuggled against his chest.  “I’m sorry.  I just don’t want you to be mad at me.”  Dean frowned again.  She was really hung up on that point.

Dean rolled her over suddenly, trapping her beneath him.  He put his hands on her face and kissed her deeply, till her heart was racing and her breathing was heavy.  Pulling back he looked in her eyes.  “Do I feel mad to you?”

She shook her head and gave him a smile.  Not as bright as normal but getting there.

“And do you know why that is?” He asked, tipping her head back so he could kiss her neck, making sure to get all the spots he knew drove her crazy.

“Because you’re not mad?” Rose ventured, her voice sounding breathy to her own ears.

Dean chuckled against her throat then raised his head and winked at her.  “Good girl, you got it!”  Rose smiled at him and that was the dazzling smile he loved so much.  “Now see, was that so hard?”

Rose raised an eyebrow at him, rubbing her hips against him as if to prove a point.  “I’m sorry was what so hard?”

Dean bit back a moan, loving the feel of her hips grinding up against his.  Then he shook his finger at her.  “Naughty girl.  I meant listening to me.  If you would just listen to me and believe what I say from the get go things would be so much easier.”  Dean chuckled, realizing from her eyes he had probably lost her the second the word naughty had left his mouth.  She was just staring at his mouth now and before he could say anything else she was reaching up and pulling his mouth down to hers.

Dean groaned into her mouth, feeling her lips on his and her tongue licking and darting in and out of his mouth.  He didn’t know how much more of this he could take.  Rose had been right when she’d told Lily that things were happening between them at their own pace, for the most part.  Everything had happened naturally with them, at their own pace with no rushing or holding back, with the exception of one thing.  Dean had this idea in his head about the first time they were actually together, the first time he was actually buried deep inside her - he wanted it to be perfect.  He wanted no distractions, no interruptions and no issues hanging over their heads.  The pragmatic side of Dean knew this was a bit silly and slightly impractical.  Even taking the drama in Rose’s life recently out of the equation, his own life was rarely without some sort of conflict.   And really, as long as he was with Rose it would be mind blowing, he knew that.  But damn it, he wanted it to be perfect and he wasn’t ready to give up on this idea that it could happen that way.

Of course it didn’t mean they couldn’t have a little fun in the meantime, Dean thought with a grin.  He entwined his hands in Rose’s hair, angling her face so he could kiss her deeper.  He tugged on her hair gently, drawing a soft moan from her lips, then he thrust his hips against hers, loving the feel of her against him.  Till that time came there was definitely enjoyment to be had and he planned to make the most of it.

* * *

Awhile later, Dean came back into the room just as Rose was finishing up getting dressed.  Today’s shirt was another one Dean didn’t understand.  It was bright pink and read “Elect Alison Hendrix.”

“I’m guessing that’s not an actual political endorsement, right?” he asked.

Rose grinned.  “Nope, it’s from Orphan Black.”

“Another one?”  Rose nodded and Dean sighed.  “I’m going to have to watch this crazy show just so I’ll understand your shirts” he said, causing Rose to squeal with delight.

“Oh I think you’ll love it, Dean!  There’s lots of fight scenes and it’s funny too.  Oh and lesbian love scenes, you’ll like those!  Oh maybe we can binge watch it!”

Dean grinned at Rose’s delight.  He had to admit, he loved how excited she got about little things.  She'd been like this since they were kids and it made him happy that it hadn't changed.  There was something very refreshing about it. He steered her towards the door, listening to her ramble on about all the things she loved about the show and with a smile he shut the bedroom door behind them.

* * *

Unbeknownst to either Rose or Dean their relationship had been the topic of conversation in another bedroom at the bunker that morning.

In Sam and Lily's room, Sam was laying on the bed, wearing just a pair of jeans, watching Lily get ready.  It was a morning show he quite enjoyed. Currently Lily was walking around the room, rummaging through clothes and makeup, wearing one of his shirts, something he particularly liked her in.

He stretched lazily; feeling tired this morning after waking up in the middle of the night.  That reminded him-

"Hey, is your sister an insomniac?" He asked.

Lily looked up from comparing two shirts (which apart from the color looked identical to Sam.). "Rose?"  Sam nodded.  "Ya, she's our resident night owl.  Why?"

"I woke up for a bit last night and went out and found her in the library.  She'd been up awhile I think."

"I'm surprised she wasn't baking something" Lily said, deciding on the blue top and throwing it on the bed next to Sam.  “I’m always waking up to cakes or pies she’s made in the middle of the night.”

"Oh she'd already baked a pie for Dean."

Lily rolled her eyes. "Of course she had."

"Did you say something to her about us yesterday?" Sam asked, remembering Rose' comment to him.

Lily nodded, pulling a pair of black jeans from her bag.  Sam frowned, reminding himself he needed to move a dresser in here for her clothes.

"Ya, Daisy was asking about us."  Lily headed into the bathroom to put some makeup on but kept the door open so they could continue their conversation.  "She asked about Rose and Dean too and God, that was odd."

"What do you mean odd?"

Lily applied mascara to her lashes, leaning over the sink as she did so, causing Sam to lean forward and watch her.  She knew _he_ knew she had nothing on under his shirt.  "Apparently they don't talk about the future."

"What do you mean?" Sam asked.

"All Rose would say was they're good, they're happy, he gives her great orgasms, never mind that they haven't actually fucked yet, but-"

"Wait a second" Sam sat straight up. "They haven't?"

"Nope.  Not according to Rose.  Though they've done "other things" Lily said, making air quotes.  She was adding eyeliner now.  "So figure that one out, 'cause I'm baffled."

"Huh" Sam said, leaning back against the headboard, but still keeping himself at an angle so he could admire the view.  Crazy about Rose or not, he had to admit, he hadn't expected that from Dean.  "So what's the whole future thing about?"

"Beats me" Lily said with a shrug, moving onto her eye shadow now.  She wiggled her ass just a little and leaned forward just a little more, causing her shirt to ride up, knowing that would get a reaction.  Sam's sharp intake of breath proved her right and she grinned.  "She said they're taking it slow, not worrying about tomorrow, enjoying today.  Which all sounds like a crock of shit to me.  I swear if your brother is playing my sister I'll kill him."

"I really don't think he is, Lil.  I walked in on them yesterday you know" Sam said.  "Before we left to see Bobby they were making out in the dining room.  I asked Dean about them in the car and couldn't get a thing out of him.  Usually my brother loves to brag about his conquests.  The fact that he’s not makes me think if anything it’s the opposite.  Did Rose say anything to make you think she’s ready to get serious and he’s not?”

“Nope” Lily said, applying her lipstick with a careful hand.

“Maybe they both just aren’t ready to admit it yet” Sam said with a shrug.  “Or maybe they aren’t serious.  Who knows?”

"I'm gonna watch them together today, see what I can find out" Lily decided, finishing up her makeup.  She went to turn around but found an arm on either side of her keeping her where she was.  She looked in the mirror to see Sam directly behind her.

"Uh uh" Sam said, grinding his hips against her bottom, the denim rubbing against her naked skin, making Lily bite back a moan.  "You're perfect right where you are.”  Lily watched Sam in the mirror, his hands unbuttoning his shirt that she was wearing, then slowly spreading the fabric open.

"What are you doing, Sam?" She asked with a little grin.

"Taking what you've been offering the whole time you've been in here" Sam murmured, his hands rising to cup her breasts, his fingers pinching her nipples, drawing another moan from her.  "You're such a tease, Lil", he said, kissing the back of her neck.

"I can't help it if you get turned on just looking at me" Lily teased.  Then she smiled and it was one of the sexiest smiles Sam had ever seen.  "All I have to do is think about you and I get hot."

"Oh ya, should we test that out?" One of his hands slipped down her stomach, leaving a trail of fire down her skin.  Lily groaned, pushing her hips back against him.  His fingers slipped between her legs, finding her wet and dripping for him.  He watched her face in the mirror, as her eyes closed and she bit her lip.  "Hmm, you may be right.  You do feel ready to me."  He brought his hand up to his mouth and Lily's eyes flew open, watching him slowly lick his fingers, tasting her.  Lily moaned and just about came on the spot, watching him do that.  "Mmm, you taste ready too" he said, with a sinful grin.  Moving his hand back down to her, his fingers slipped over her, dipping in between her folds but not touching that one spot she was desperate for him to touch.

"Sam" she whined, "stop teasing."

Sam chuckled and his hand that had been on her breast moved behind her and she could hear him unzipping his jeans, then felt him kicking them off.  "Not so fun when you're the one being teased is it, Lily?"

Lily pouted at his reflection in the mirror, hitching her hips, trying to get his hand in the right spot.  "But _you_ like being teased.  I hate it" she said.  Sam chuckled, knowing that was the truth.  Lily had the patience of a toddler.  She narrowed her eyes at him and started to move her own hand down but before she could get anywhere Sam's hand was on top of hers, holding it in place on the sink.  "Uh uh" he said, leaning over her, "Ask nicely and I'll give you what you want."

Lily gave him a halfhearted glare and then gave in.  "Please?"

The word was barely out of her mouth before he was slamming into her, his cock buried deep inside her and his fingers were circling and stroking just where she needed it most.  She choked back a scream, the joint sensations overwhelming her.  Sam was pistoning in and out of her at a hard and fast pace, his fingers stroking firmly now, keeping time with his thrusts.  Lily had been turned on just from wearing his shirt and showing off for him in the bathroom and ready to come from the second he touched her.  She felt her body tightening, the fire building in her till with a shout of Sam's name everything exploded.  Sam's hands both went to her hips then, pounding into her forcefully until with one more thrust and a loud groan he came as well.  He left lazy, wet kisses on her shoulders as he caught his breath.

"God, you make me crazy" he said against her skin.

Lily laughed.  "That's a good thing though, right?"

"Oh it's a very good thing."  Sam straightened and picked her up, taking her with him to collapse on the bed.  She entwined her legs with his and reached up to lazily kiss his mouth.  Pulling back she gave him a mock glare.  “You know, Sam Winchester, for someone who is an awfully nice guy most of the time, you sure are bossy in the bedroom.”

Sam raised an eyebrow at her.  “That's a good thing though, right?" he parroted back at her and Lily couldn’t help but laugh.  “And technically, we were in the bathroom.”  Lily smacked his chest and he laughed.

"It's also a good thing neither of us has a job we have to go into an office for.  We'd never make it, be fired in a week" he said, after pulling back from the kiss.  Lily laughed, not even trying to denying it.

* * *

Everyone finally made it to the dining room for breakfast.  The sisters all hugged, with Rose saying how sorry she was and Lily shushing her and telling her not to even worry about it and Daisy looking put out, but coming around and hugging her in the end as well.  While the girls were sorting their stuff out, Dean had a word with Sam in the kitchen, while pulling out cereal boxes and milk.  Dean filled Sam in on his dream last night and Sam was all over it, obviously fascinated.  Dean rolled his eyes.  He was fairly sure that you weren’t supposed to be excited by weird crap happening in your brother’s sleep.  "Do me a favor and let's not share this info with the class, OK?" 

Sam looked at him questioningly and Dean elaborated.  "OK let's not share it with Daisy.  I just, I don't know, I just don't think she should know."

Sam nodded, understanding what he meant.  He watched Dean's face when he caught sight of the pie Rose had made and had to laugh at how happy he looked.  His brother really did love pie.

They brought the cereal and milk out to the dining room and by that time the girls seemed to be all settled.  Lily watched with interest as Dean grabbed Rose's hand and pulled her into the kitchen.

"Did you make me a pie?"

Rose smiled and nodded and Dean's whole face lit up.  "I figured it was a good way to say I'm sorry."

Dean frowned at that.  "You didn't have to.  Don't get me wrong, I'm glad you did.  But remember that whole part where I'm not mad at you?"

Rose nodded.  "But I didn't know that last night and it made me feel better."

Dean looked confused. "You got up in the middle of the night to make me pie?"

Rose shrugged.  "I woke up and it seemed like the thing to do."

"I had no idea you even got up.  Aren't you sneaky?" He looked at her with a mixture of awe and alarm.

Rose smiled.  "Being quiet is a talent."

Dean grinned, pulling her to him and kissing her soundly.  "Well it wasn't needed but I love that you did it.  Pie for breakfast!"

Rose laughed.  "Dean, you are not having pie for breakfast."  She tugged on his arm.  "Come on, eat some cereal.  You can have pie for dessert at lunch."

"You're teasing me with pie now, Rosie.  I'll remember this.  There will be revenge."  Dean gave her a pout but let her pull him back into the living room.   Rose rolled her eyes at him but couldn't help but laugh.  She was thrilled he was so excited.

After everyone had got themselves some food and were at least beginning to eat, Sam cleared his throat and launched into his theory about yesterday’s dream situation.  He’d done some research and seemed fairly certain that his initial theory was right, that Rose going into Daisy’s dream midway through had caused such an extreme reaction and she was dealing with something called Dream Empathy.

“So is this something I have now?” Rose asked, looking worried.  Lily watched Dean slip his hand to her leg and give her knee a squeeze.  Hmm, OK that was supportive of him.  One point to Dean.

“More like something you’re susceptible to?” Sam ventured.  “Going into a dream mid stream like that doesn’t really give your mind time to adjust.  I would guess if you went in at the beginning with Daisy like you did before you wouldn’t react any more extremely than you all did last time.  You all felt slightly giddy after right and then tired?" All three girls nodded.  “Right, so I think this was just a more extreme version of that.  When you went in last time you all three went in together, so I think you all also slightly buffered each other.  I think it’s more like a shared power between the three of you, or a side affect more accurately.”

“So in other words I’m not supposed to be walking through people’s dreams on my own” Rose said.

Sam nodded.  “And Dean brought up something none of us had thought of.  If Rose was so upset why didn’t her powers kick in?  There were no slamming doors, nothing flying off the shelves.”  Lily and Daisy frowned, neither one having thought of this.  “The anger she was feeling wasn’t hers so it wasn’t genuine.  Her powers are generally triggered by her emotions but since these weren’t really her emotions it didn’t make them kick in.”

“So whose anger was she feeling then?” Lily asked.  When no one answered the obvious answer came to her.  “Daisy?” She turned to her baby sister.  “What were you so angry about?”

Daisy squirmed, having hoped to avoid this question.  “She came into my dream and I wasn’t expecting it.  It caught me off guard and it just..upset me.”

“And that pissed you off that badly?” Lily asked, obviously not buying this.  Daisy nodded with a shrug and Lily gave her a suspicious look but let it go.

“So after breakfast I’d like to compare notes between what Daisy and Rose found on the prophecy and maybe see what else we can dig up.”  Lily and Dean let out simultaneous sighs and everyone else laughed. 

When everyone got up to clear the table Dean tugged on Rose’s hand, keeping her back.  He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her against him.  “So looks like you get out of practice today, Princess” he said with a smile.  Rose smiled, actually looking forward to spending time in the library researching.  He leaned in close to her ear then and said “It’s a shame, I was hoping to bend you over the counter again in the gun range and turn your bottom all sorts of pretty colors.”  He gave her a wink.

Rose turned scarlet, but looked up at Dean with a smile.  “And you say I’m the naughty one.”

“Oh Baby, I’m way past naughty.”  Dean laughed and glancing up to make sure everyone else was in the kitchen, he leaned down to kiss her.  It was a quick kiss, Dean not having any desire for an audience, but a hot kiss just the same with Rose’s hands fingering in Dean’s hair, their tongues entwining and Dean’s hands pulling her hips against his.  It left both feeling breathless as their kisses generally did and they smiled at each other in a way that promised more kisses were definitely on the agenda for later.  He patted her softly on the bottom before taking their bowls into the kitchen.  He swore he saw someone disappear around the corner of the doorway but when he entered the kitchen there was no one near so he chalked it up to his imagination.  Lily was at the counter on her phone and if he had seen what she was writing he would have known better.

_He just kissed her…a quick kiss but it was a hot one._

Sam rolled his eyes, reading the text.  Lily was obsessed.  This could blow up really badly if Dean got wind that she was watching them.  Sam knew his brother wouldn’t be happy about it at all.

* * *

Seated around one of the library tables in almost an exact replica of how they had been positioned when discussing Daisy’s dream, Sam had his notebook out, ready to add everything the girls had found.  Rose and Daisy both had their laptops in front of them and both Dean and Lily had nothing, save for their phones, which Lily was tapping away on until Sam sent her a little glare.  With a roll of her eyes she laid it down on the table and he gave her a small smile in return.

“OK, Daisy you want to tell us what you found first?  And if you can email me the names of the books you got the info from that would be great.  I want to put that info into my notebook.”

“I can send you all my notes if you like, that way you can copy it down when you have a second” Daisy said and Sam nodded, murmuring his thanks.

Daisy nodded, clicking and bringing up the document she needed.  “OK well I found mention of the prophecy in a few books, mostly just mentions of a prophecy of three sisters.  But I found some more detailed information in two books.  The first one said” Daisy cleared her throat and then read in a clear voice “ **And in the time of the new moon there will be born three sisters to a family of the sword.** ”  Um, I compared our birthdates on a calendar and we were all born during new moons.”  Sam made a note and nodded for her to continue.  “ **The gifted one will be born in the first month of the year, will be an dara iníon de fear as Baile Átha Cliath and will have gruaige ar an lasair.** ”  She looked up and said “I translated the parts in Irish and wound up with “ **The gifted one will be born in the first month of the year, will be the second daughter of a man from Dublin and will have hair of the flame.”**   I’m guessing that’s Rose.”  Upon hearing the translation Dean had sat up ramrod straight in his chair.  He thought the prophecy was supposed to be vague about who the gifted one was.  That sounded like a pretty damn specific description of Rose to him.  He caught the look on Sam’s face and he looked worried as well.  This information being so precise was not good.  Who knew what else was out there and who had gotten their hands on it?  He glanced at Rose then and the expression on her face said she’d figured this out too.  “Hey” he said softly, slipping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her towards him.  “It’s OK.”

Rose swallowed hard and nodded, trying to put on a brave face. "It’s just not every day you hear a description of yourself in a prophecy.”  She laughed.  “Dad would be impressed with the translation, Days” she said.

Daisy shrugged.  “Google translate gets all the credit.  I leave the languages to you.  The book was written by an Irish priest who seemed pretty excited that the sisters had their origins in Ireland.”  She frowned then.  “When I looked him up online there were some weird websites with more of his writings, but I couldn’t get anything to translate.  It wasn't any language that any of the translation sites recognized."  Sam looked at Dean and he immediately pulled his phone out.

“What’s his name, Daisy?” Sam asked.  Daisy read off a name and Sam nodded, jotting it down and saw Dean texting already.  “You gonna call?” he asked and Dean nodded, giving Rose’s hand a squeeze and getting up from the table, dialing as he walked out.  “Are all those websites in your notes?”  Daisy nodded.

“You’re doing it again” Lily grumbled.  She’d been quiet throughout this whole conversation but Sam knew her well enough to read the concern on her face.  “Talking in brother shorthand.”

“We have someone who may be able to find out everything about this-” Sam consulted his notes “Father Kieran Docherty and get the websites translated.”

Daisy frowned.  “I could do more research on him.”

Sam smiled and said gently "You've done a great job already, Daisy.  With our contact researching the priest and working on the websites you can keep focused on the prophecy itself."

Out in the maproom, Dean had his phone to his ear, listening to it ring and hoping she’d pick up.  He knew she had stuff of her own going on.

A few seconds later a cheery voice rang in his ear “You’re texting me Irish Priest names now?  Is this some kind of weird code?  Are you being held prisoner by the Catholic church?”

Dean chuckled.  “Hey Kiddo.  I take it you got the text.”

“I did…and you want me to what, research this dude?” Charlie asked.

“Ya and Sam’s gonna email you some websites.  They’re written by this guy and they’re in some weird language we can’t translate.  Could be a code. Think you can give it a go?”

Charlie snorted and Dean grinned.  Charlie’s sass carried perfectly over the phone line.  “Silly question.  Of course I can.  What’s it for?”

Dean hesitated and looked behind him, making sure he was out of earshot of the girls.  “You remember the Sullivans?  The family I mentioned?”

“The one with the hot sisters?” Charlie asked, sounding intrigued.

“Uh, ya I guess” Dean said, pretty sure he had never described them that way.  “It’s a long story but the short version is there’s a prophecy about them-”

“Geez, don’t you guys know any normal people?” Charlie interrupted.

“Not really” Dean said, one hand on the back of his neck, rubbing agitatedly.  “Anyway, some stuff happened and they’re all here-”

“There are hot sisters taking up residence in the bunker?  No way!  Oh this I gotta see.”  Dean heard her rummaging in the background.

“Charlie, what are you doing?” Dean asked, an uneasy feeling forming in the pit of his stomach.

“I’m getting my shit together and coming to see you.  I’m not that far away from you guys and I want to meet your girlfriend.”

“My girlfrie-what are you talking about?" Dean was absolutely certain he’d never said anything like that to her.

“Oh please, Dean.  I’m sure you thought you were being clever and hiding it but it was so clear you had the hots for the redhead every time you talked about her.  Not that I blame you, of course.  Redheads are awesome.  I’ll be there about…Um, five o’clock-ish.”

Dean immediately went into protective big brother mode. “Charlie, don’t speed.  Get here in one piece, OK?  They aren’t going anywhere, anytime soon trust me.”  The irony of Dean lecturing someone about speeding was not lost on him but he felt obligated to do it anyway.

“See you when I see you, Dean.” Charlie said and hung up.

Dean stared at the phone in his hand for a second, not sure what just happened.  He had called Charlie for help and somehow wound up with another female houseguest. They were turning into a regular chick motel.  Shaking his head he went back into the library where four interested faces turned towards him.

“So, we’re having company” Dean said.  “You’re getting your wish, Rosie.  You’re going to get to meet Charlie.”


	36. Imagine a Fighter With a Centerfold Face

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lots of prophecy details straight ahead!

Lily watched Dean take his seat back next to Rose, smiling at her and squeezing her hand.  Rose smiled back and Lily gave Dean another point for taking care of her sister. 

Dean leaned over and whispered in Rose’s ear “So does this mean my fantasy about two redheads is going to come true?” he asked with a smirk

“You wish” she whispered back, a blush on her face.  Dean laughed and then looked up to find Lily watching them.  He threw her an irritated look, causing her to look back down at her phone quickly.

After the initial flurry of comments and excitement over the impending arrival of Charlie, Sam got everyone focused back on sharing what they’d found.  “Is that it, Daisy or do you have more for us?”

“I found a little more” Daisy said, glancing at Rose before she started, which made Dean nervous about what she was going to read.  Daisy just read the straight translation this time.

“ **The gifted one must walk her path but not allow herself to walk alone. She must not run, but must walk the path as it unfolds before her.  The voices she knows and trusts must be the ones she hears, so as to drown out those of the ones who want her for their own needs.  She is wanted and highly coveted.  The gifted one was forged in love and love must be the guiding force to direct her steps, else she will be lost. There will be hands to help but she must take them. To walk alone leads to a path that will surely lead to the downfall of all.**

 **Bonds and connections will be the core of what determines the outcome for the gifted one.  Fate is not set, no matter the words the scholars use and the direction can be affected by those who hold her here.  Her fate is our fate.** ”

Rose frowned, taking that all in.  “Oh yae, the downfall of all.  No pressure or anything.  And um, I’m wanted?  That doesn’t sound good.”  Dean squeezed her knee and Lily leaned her head on her shoulder, both offering their support.  This was turning out to be a lot more stressful than Rose had thought it would be.

“I’ve got one more thing.  It’s about Lily” Daisy said, making Lily raise her head from Rose’s shoulder and look at her in surprise.  She never got much mention in the things she'd found on the prophecy. 

" **The warrior's strength will be tested and her heart and body will rise to a preeminent role in the days to come and the battle ahead.  What she has viewed as strength will become her weakness and what she values little will become of utmost importance.** ”

Lily had a puzzled look on her face.  “What the hell does any of that mean?” she asked her irritation clear in her voice.  “Why do I get a riddle?  That has to be a mistake.”

Sam frowned, looking over Daisy’s notes, having pulled them up to read.  “Well the first part sounds like you’ll play a part in a battle.  The second part isn’t as clear.  What do you view as your biggest strength?” Lily shrugged, annoyed by this whole thing.  Sam sighed, realizing she wasn’t going to be cooperative.

Rose spoke up.  “Your physical strength.  You’ve always liked being strong.”  Sam smiled at her gratefully.

Lily nodded.  “Ya, I can kick most guys ass’.  Nice talent to have.”  She grinned wickedly at Dean and Rose put a hand on his knee, giving him a meaningful glare and he shut his mouth before the words could leave it.  Rose gave him a grateful smile, knowing the last thing Lily needed was a smartass comment to get her more riled up.

“And what about something you don’t value?” Sam asked, looking at Lily.  He wasn’t sure why she was reacting like this but it wasn’t making things easier.

“I don’t know, stupidity?” Lily offered, with a scowl.  She put a hand up when Sam started to speak again.  "OK, no, I never agreed to play pop psychology.  This is all wrong.  Not happening.”  She looked at Daisy.  “That all you got?”  At Daisy’s nod Lily looked at Rose.  “Your turn, Rosie and for the record, if there’s a puzzle in this with my name in it I am not going to be happy.”

Rose didn’t respond to Lily’s challenge.  “I found quite a bit from Father Docherty too but I also found a lot from an Irish nun named Sister Agatha Fitzgerald.”  Sam jotted the name down as she pulled up a window and started reading.  “ **The sisters of the prophecy will come into play, changing the board** -”

“Wait, how are you reading that?” Dean asked.  He was looking over her shoulder and all he could see on screen looked something like Beidh na deirfiúracha an phrophecy teacht i spraoi , ag athrú an bord which meant nothing to him.

“Is it Irish?” Lily asked when Rose didn’t respond.  Rose’s laptop was at an angle so Lily couldn’t see the screen clearly.  Dean shrugged.  He had no clue what he was looking at.  Lily looked at her sister.  “Is it?” and Rose nodded.  “She understands it” Lily explained.

“You read Irish Gaelic?” Sam asked, and Rose nodded.  “That’s helpful to know” Sam said, looking impressed.  Rose squirmed, hating to be the center of attention.  After a second she cleared her throat and went back to what she had found.

“ **The sisters of the prophecy will come into play, changing the board, changing the world of the sword irrevocably. The scales will sway.  They may dip or they may fall.  Balance or catastrophe, the winds will decide and the gifted one will be the determining factor.”**

Rose frowned and then looked up, glancing between Lily and Sam.  “How about I just read what I found and we can worry over the meaning later?”  Sam nodded and Lily looked unhappy, knowing what the most likely meant.  “You might want to close your ears, Lil” Rose warned and Lily picked her phone back up.  With a deep breath Rose began reading:

“ **The warrior has a role to play, as she always has.  Her love is an unbreakable chord, strengthened by two families of the sword.  She must dig deep, ignoring the obvious and looking instead to that which she hides.  Therein lies the strength that can be the well the gifted one drinks from.** ”

Rose looked at Lily when she was done but Lily was steadfastly staring at her phone and clicking away at something.  She made no comment on what Rose had read.  Rose looked at her with concern.  “Should I continue?”

“You have more?” Dean asked in surprise and Rose nodded.  Lily hadn’t been kidding when she said Rose was good at research.  She’d only had a few hours to research and had found a hell of a lot.  Sam raised a hand for her to wait, looking at Lily, worry etched on his face.  Lily however refused to meet his eyes, refused to meet anyone’s eyes.

“Lil?” He asked.  “Are you ok?”

“Fine” Lily said, clicking away at the zombies invading the base camp on her screen.

Rose watched Sam’s face and could tell he was torn as to what to do.  In the end he let Lily be, probably the best decision in this case, Rose figured.  He motioned for Rose to continue and after sending him an appreciative smile for at least trying to take care of her sister, Rose started sharing what she found again.

“This is about you, Days” Rose said, glancing at her younger sister.  Daisy nodded and took a breath, not sure what was to come.  She hadn’t found anything she thought pertained to her in her searching.

“ **The dreamer will be guided by the hand of a celestial being, a rarity to be sure, enhancing her sight, setting her future into motion and affecting those in her heart.  Wisdom and heedfulness must be used by the dreamer, balancing her heart with her head. No longer may the child lead; the woman must be the center.  Her dreams will guide the sisters; some shared, others kept to her own counsel.  The messenger deserves her trust, but the choice must be hers, not letting what others say sway her.** ”

Everyone turned to look at Daisy, even Lily looked up from her phone.  Daisy’s cheeks were red and she was staring fixedly at the table.  She glanced up at everyone watching her.  “I thought we were just reading, not asking for explanations?”  Rose nodded and went back to her laptop.  “Um, I only have one more thing I found.” 

Sam nodded.  “Let’s read that and then take a break, maybe have some lunch.”

Rose nodded and took a breath.  “This part is kind of like a warning, I guess, to all three of us.”  Lily groaned at that and Rose grimaced, feeling like she was the bearer of horrible news for everyone.

“ **The warrior must soften, the dreamer must show prudence and the gifted one must dare.  All must walk on a different path than the one's they have chosen or all will fall.”**

* * *

After that dramatic bit of advice everyone was quiet for a few seconds then Sam got up and walked over to Lily.  He didn’t say a word, just stuck his hand out for her to take.  She looked at him for a second and Rose was holding her breath, not sure what Lily would do.  Lily didn’t always react in the nicest way when she was upset and those nearest her could sometimes become collateral damage.  After what seemed like hours, but in reality wasn’t even a full minute, Lily placed her hand in Sam’s and let him pull her from the chair and lead her down the hallway.

Once he got them to their room he kicked his shoes off and climbed onto the bed, pulling her down onto his lap.  He took her phone from her hands and put it on the nightstand and then wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closely against him.  Instead of questioning her or trying to get her to talk he just rubbed her back and waited.  He hoped she would want to talk on her own without him having to push her.  He was encouraged by the fact she had come along with him easily.  That was a good sign.  Lily hated to be pushed, liked to do things in her own time.  Not rushing her was Lily 101 and led to the best results.

They sat like that for several minutes, no words passing between them, Sam's hand rubbing slowly up and down Lily's back.  Finally she took a deep breath and spoke quietly.

"This isn't supposed to be about me" she said.

Sam frowned, resting his head on top of hers.  "OK you're going to have to explain, Darling."

Lily gave an exasperated sigh.  "I'm just the muscle.  Daisy’s vision girl and Rosie has the mystery gift.  Aside from saying "Hey, you're strong" I'm not usually mentioned in this stuff."  She paused then added.  "I don't like it."

Sam gave her a commiserating smile.  "Sorry, Lil.  But you are a part of it."  He frowned thoughtfully.  "A big part of it from what Daisy and Rose found."

"It's wrong" Lily said flatly.  “It has to be.”

Sam chuckled at the stubbornness in her voice.  "In my experience prophecies are rarely wrong."

"Well this one is.  Or they read it wrong or something."  Lily was adamant about this.  "There's no way I'm that big a factor in it."

Sam frowned.  "And why wouldn't you be?"

"Sam, come on” Lily said, as if it was evident.

Sam frowned.  He pulled back a bit so he could see her face.  “Sorry, I don't get it.  You're going to have to explain.”

Lily rolled her eyes, obviously finding it hard to believe he didn’t see.  “They’re the special ones, the ones with talents and supernatural gifts.”

Sam just stared, for a moment too surprised to get a word out.  Finally he shook his head.  “Are you serious?”

“Of course I am.  Daisy has visions and dreams and Rose can control demons and move things with her mind.  Me?  I can fight and shoot, not exactly something special.”

“First off, you can fight and shoot like almost no one else I know.  You hold your own with me and Dean, Lily, and on any given day I’m not putting money on who would win in a fight.  That’s not just being tough, Darling.  That’s an amazing gift.”

“Ya?” Lily said, shyly and Sam just nodded, smiling at her.

“Absolutely.  And you practice and work out how little?”  Lily shrugged.  “Ya, exactly.  So don’t even tell me that’s not a supernatural gift.  You might not be able to do what your sisters do but they can’t do what you can either.”

“OK, that’s true.”  Lily looked thoughtful.  She started to say something else but Sam cut her off.  "How can you think you're not special?"

Lily shrugged.  "'Cause I'm not.  I'm just the girl born to be a hunter.  They're the ones with bigger callings.”

"Lily that is the biggest load of bullshit I have ever heard."  Lily's head snapped up to look at Sam, shocked at the vehemence in his voice.  He sounded almost angry.  "You're a freaking force of nature."  He shook his head.  "You just don't see it."

"You really see me that way?" Lily asked, amazement in her voice and Sam nodded, his eyes telling her how sincere he was.  She smiled to herself.  A force of nature.  She liked that.  She especially liked that Sam thought of her that way.  But she couldn’t forget what else was bothering her about what her sisters had found.

 "Sam, that stuff in there that they were saying…that’s not me.  All those stupid riddles about my heart and weaknesses.  I don’t understand any of that.  And then that part about me being soft.  I’m not soft, Sam.  I never have been.  That’s Rose.  Maybe they got us confused.”

Sam started rubbing Lily’s back again, feeling the tension in her body.  He knew normally how he’d get her to release that but right now they needed to have this talk.  Maybe after… “OK first off nobody understands prophecies to begin with.  It’s like a puzzle and some of us actually like figuring them out.”  Lily snorted and gave Sam her best “You must be crazy” look.  “So don’t worry about that.  We’ll figure that out.  As for the soft part, well you’re wrong.”

Lily gave him a look that said she was moving beyond her crazy theory and going straight to insane.  Sam just smiled.  “The day Rose threw you and your mom out of the bedroom, did you yell at Rose about that, make her feel bad for literally throwing you out?”

Lily shook her head.  “No, of course not.  Rose was hurting enough after my mom said all that shit to her.”

Sam nodded then said softly "That’s softness, Lily.”

Lily shook her head.  “Nope, it’s not.  She’s my sister and I take care of her.  End of story.”

“And why do you take care of her?”

“Because she’s my sister” Lily said stubbornly.

“And you love her” Sam said.

“Ya, well obviously” Lily said with an eye roll.

“Most people view love as being soft, you know” Sam said.

“Well they’re idiots.  Love is a strength, not a weakness.”

“I didn’t say weakness I said soft.  You view soft and weak as the same thing, Lil, and you’re wrong.”  He looked at her thoughtfully.  “You know, Rose has been through a hell of a lot these last few weeks, hasn’t she?  A lot of people would have completely fallen apart.”

Lily beamed with pride.  “Absolutely.  But not Rosie.  She’s stronger than people ever give her credit for.”

“But you said Rose was soft and now you’re saying she’s strong.”  He gave her a grin.  “Funny how she can be both, huh?”

Lily gave him a glare.  “Oh, that was sneaky, Sam Winchester.”  She poked him in the chest.  “And mean.”

Sam grabbed her hand, laughing.  “Hey with you I need all the tricks I can get.”  He rested his forehead against hers; glad to see her smiling again.  “Know when else I see a softness in you?”

Lily smiled at him, loving how he could pull her back to sanity when it seemed out of her reach.  “When?”

“When I do this” and Sam brushed her lips with his, barely touching her really, only the smallest, and tiniest of kisses.  And yet still, when he looked in her eyes they had changed.  All those walls she had up most of the time were down and there was a soft, sweet light there that always drew him in.

“Ya, well that’s you” Lily said, softly.  “You bring that out in me.”

Sam smiled at her, his softest, sweetest smile and Lily felt herself melt.  God, he could do that to her so easily.  “It had to be there in the first place, Darling, for me to bring out.”  Lily didn’t answer and Sam knew this was going to be an ongoing job to convince her.  That was ok.  Sam loved a challenge and Lily had been one for him as long as he could remember. 

Sam lifted Lily and repositioned her so she was straddling his lap.  “How about we see what else I can bring out in you?” he murmured, bringing his lips down to cover hers.

They could skip lunch.  This was more important.

* * *

When Sam and Lily had left the room the three left behind all just sat there.  Daisy was thinking over what Rose had read about her and trying to work through it in her mind, Rose was trying not to freak out by all the potential doom she has heard in reference to her actions and Dean was thinking how much he hated prophecies and that now he could finally have his pie. 

After a few minutes Daisy looked up and said "I don't really want any lunch.  I'm just going to go hang out in my room till you guys need me again."  And she went off down the hall without waiting for them to respond.

Dean looked at Rose and realized from the look on her face that Lily wasn't the only one feeling overwhelmed.  He was trying to decide the best way to handle this when Rose suddenly jumped up and gave him one of the fakest smiles he'd ever seen.  "Let's go have some lunch!" She said, in a cheerful voice that sounded anything but, and hurried into the kitchen without even looking if he was coming too.

Dean followed her at a more normal pace and arrived in the kitchen to find her staring at the countertop as if it might have the answers to all life's mysteries.

"Rosie?" Dean asked softly, snapping her out of whatever she'd been thinking.

She jumped slightly and he realized she'd been a million miles away.  She flashed him an apologetic smile.

"What do you want for lunch?" She asked and Dean realized with a start how easily she had taken over the kitchen.  Aside from a few breakfasts he hadn't cooked since she'd been here.  He frowned.  That wasn’t how this was supposed to go.  She was so good at taking care of people that it was easy to overlook taking care of her and in Dean's mind caretaking definitely involved food.  That was changing now.

"You sit down.  I'll handle lunch today" Dean said, walking towards her.  He guided her to a seat at the counter. "What do you want?  Any requests?"

Rose looked a bit surprised by his sudden takeover of lunch but didn’t argue.  Instead she smiled. 

"Honestly, I just want pie" Rose admitted and Dean laughed in surprise.  "It's your fault" she accused.  "Every since you mentioned it this morning I've been craving it."

Dean grinned happily and winked at her.  "That's my girl."  He got plates and utensils out and served them both big pieces of cherry pie.  He handed Rose her slice and a fork with a smile then took a seat across from her at the counter.

They both dug in, Dean moaning loudly as the flavors hit his taste buds and Rose smiling happily that he enjoyed it so much.  They ate in silence for a few minutes, Dean clearing his plate and going for more and Rose nibbling at hers.  After a few minutes Rose gave a funny little laugh causing Dean to look at her in question.

“How disappointed would these great beings that want me so badly be if they could see me now?”  She gestured to the table and then herself.  “I’m sitting here eating pie, wearing a fangirl t-shirt with my shiny blue nails” She waggled her nails for emphasis “and somehow everyone’s fate is connected to mine?”  She snorted.  “Ya, that just sounds like a perfect recipe for disaster.” 

Dean started to respond and she cut him off.  “You know what?  I don’t want to talk about this.  It’s just too much.”  She shook her head and shoved a mouthful of pie in her mouth.  After she swallowed she said “Tell me some more about Charlie.  I know how you met her and that she taught you what cosplay is.  What else, what’s she like?”

Dean studied Rose a minute, trying to decide if he should push her to talk about the newest on the prophecy or let it go for now.  Looking at her face and the slight hint of panic he saw in her eyes he decided to let it go and went with her chosen topic: Charlie.

“Charlie is a total geek girl.  Into all that stuff you and Sam are.”  Rose resisted rolling her eyes, knowing full well what Dean was into a lot more geeky things than he ever wanted to admit.  “She’s brilliant and can hack into anything too.”  Dean took another bite of pie, thinking what else he could say about Charlie.  “She’s great at binge watching TV shows, knows way too much about fanfic and roleplaying.” Dean caught Rose’s look.  “Not _that_ kind” he said, then re-thought that. “Well maybe that kind too, I don’t know and I don’t want to.”  Rose couldn’t help but laugh at his expression.

“Does she have family?” Rose asked.

Dean shook his head.  “Her parents died when she was young and she’s an only child, though we’ve pretty much adopted her.  We’re her family.” He caught Rose’s smile at that.  “What?”

“Nothing.  I just…like that you did that” was all Rose said. 

“Hey, why should you be the only one with a kid sister?” Dean said.  “I already had the geeky brother.  Thanks to Charlie I now have the matched set.”  Rose laughed at Dean’s explanation.  Of course that was it.  It definitely didn’t have anything to do with his big heart.  Nope, not at all.

“So does she hunt?  Is she like you guys?” Rose ate the last of her pie and sat back to watch Dean eat the last of his second piece.

Dean made a face.  “Ya, that’s not a good topic.”  He caught Rose’s quizzical look and explained.  “She was hunting on her own for a bit, which is obviously not a good idea.  Me and Sam talked to her about it and got her to agree to do more research as opposed to hunting on her own.”  Rose read between the lines, knowing the brothers like she did.  They had obviously freaked and gone into protective mode.   Rose wondered if Charlie had actually listened or was just telling the boys what they wanted to hear.  That would be interesting to find out.

Rose got up and cleared up both her and Dean’s plates before he could get up from the table then she went to the freezer to pull out what she would need for dinner tonight.  She had promised Daisy lasagna so that was an easy choice.  Dean had turned around on his stool and was watching her and as soon as she got within arm's reach he grabbed her and pulled her on his lap.

“You don’t have to take care of everyone, you know” He said, smoothing her hair back behind her ears. 

Rose looked at him in confusion.  “I’m just getting stuff out for dinner tonight.”

“You don’t have to cook every meal” Dean said with a frown.  “It’s not like I brought you here to be our personal chef.”

Rose smiled at Dean.  “You brought me here to keep me safe.  I know that and I appreciate it more than I can say.  But I can cook, Dean.  It’s one thing I can do and feel actually competent at.”  She frowned then.  “But this if your kitchen, isn’t it?  I’m probably stepping on your toes.  I can back off if you like.”

Dean hugged her waist and smiled at her.  “I want you to feel at home here.  Whatever you want is yours, ok?”  Rose nodded and gave him one of her dazzling smiles.  “I just don’t want you to feel like you have to cook for everyone every night.  I want you to do whatever makes you happy.”

“I actually really do like cooking for _you_ , Dean” Rose said softly and then she grinned.  “The others just reap the benefits.”  Dean laughed at that, a big full bodied laugh that always made Rose smile.

“I promised Daisy I would make her lasagna so I need to make dinner tonight but I can always use an assistant chef” Rose said, with a flirty smile.  Dean grinned at that, picturing fun kitchen escapades in his future.

“Lasagna for Daisy, huh?  That doesn’t sound like cooking for me, now does it?” Dean asked, with a raised eyebrow.

“In the care taking of kid sisters you sometimes have to bribe them with food” Rose said conspiratorially. 

“Aw, true, it’s the same for little brothers” Dean said, nodding wisely.  “Sammy get’s grumpy when he’s hungry.

Rose smiled then said “We should probably get back to the library, see what else we can dig up.”  Her reluctance was clear on her face and in her voice.

Dean knew they needed to get back (Not that Sam and Lily appeared to be in any hurry.), knew they needed to find out everything they could and he had something else he wanted to research as well.  But there was no way he was letting Rose leave the kitchen with that anxious look on her face.  Not if he could help it.

“First things first, Rosie” Dean said, putting his hand on the back of her neck and pulling her head down to his.  He swept his lips over hers, nipping at her lower lip.  Rose’s hands went to his shoulders and his arm that was wrapped around her waist tightened, pulling her against him.  As his tongue slowly teased its way into her mouth he felt Rose start to melt against him.  He knew this afternoon’s research may really suck (God knows he didn’t like research on the best of days, never mind when it dealt with Rose and possible catastrophic results.) but for now at least he planned on sending her into that library with a smile.  He lifted Rose up suddenly, getting a little shriek of surprise from her which was muffled by his mouth for the most part, and placed her on the countertop.  His hands stroked down her back, as he stood between her legs and he pulled her body against his.  She needed this, needed to relax and feel good. 

And thankfully he knew just how to distract her, if only for a little while.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this story is actually going to be a trilogy. I'm hoping to wrap this first part up in the next 5 or 6 chapters. Still lots more to come!


	37. By Calculation I'm Way Too Much

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi there Charlie!

A short while later Dean and Rose trooped back into the library with much happier looks on both their faces.  (And if it bothered Dean at all that he had bitched at Sam about letting Lily _sit_ on the kitchen counter just a few short days ago, it didn’t show.)  Rose refused to go get Daisy after what happened last time so Dean set off to get her and bang on Sam and Lily’s door while he was at it, while Rose got herself settled.  She was going to look into the nun who had so much to say about her and her sisters.

By the time he came back with Daisy in tow Rose had her laptop ready to go.  She had her ipod at the ready and her headphones all set to go on her ears.  She smiled a greeting at Daisy who smiled one back and settled herself down to start the next round of research.  Dean had the feeling he was seeing a routine play out that had taken place millions of times before between the sisters, similar he supposed to what he and Sam probably looking like getting into Baby before heading out on a hunt.  He walked over to sit by Rose, kissing her forehead before he did, and earning himself a smile.  Her body was relaxed and the panicked look was gone from her eyes at least for now.

Lily and Sam made their appearance then, their clothes looking rumpled and both with great displays of bedhead.  Dean smirked at them.  They were the most obvious couple in the world.  As Lily took her seat next to Rose the sisters shared an unspoken conversation, Rose asking if Lily was ok with a raise of her eyebrows and Lily nodding her head, smiling in Sam’s direction.  Rose giggled softly, seeing the blush sneaking over Sam’s face.  It was nice to not be the only one who blushed in the group.

Sam cleared his throat, sinking down in his chair.  “So um, does everyone have an idea of what they’re looking for?”  Everyone nodded and got to work.  Daisy put her headphones on as did Rose and they started researching.

Dean had his own research project going on.  He was researching dreams, dream telepathy and anything else he could think of that would explain his dream last night.  He started on the computer and found a lot that he had to weed through to get past the crazies.  Some of the stuff people posted on the internet was really out there.

Dean slowly became aware of movement next to him and looked over to find Rose dancing in her chair (as much as one can dance in their chair) and lip syncing to whatever music was playing on her i-pod.  As he watched she occasionally moved her hands to the song, tapping out a beat a few times and generally putting on a show.  Dean looked up at Sam to find him staring as well.  Sam cleared his throat and Lily looked up.  “What?” she asked and Sam motioned with his eyes towards Rose.  Lily followed his eyes and grinned.  “Oh ya, she gets really into her music and forgets anyone else is around.  I’m used to it.  Is it distracting you guys?  Want me to tell her to cut it out?”  Dean shook his head and Sam chuckled.  “The things you learn about people” Sam muttered, going back to his book.

Daisy was busy making some notes of what she’d found and Rose was as well (even while she was well into her music.)  Lily for her part was bored and not finding much she didn’t know.  Three sisters, yada yada.  That is until she stumbled across something written by another Irish nun.  (Lily wasn’t a big fan of nuns personally, having had a bad encounter with one at the catholic school her father had decided his daughters should attend.  That had lasted up until the very first time one of the nuns had decided to take a ruler to his oldest daughter.  Erin Sullivan had descended on the school with the full wrath of an angry mother.  None of the Sullivan girls ever attended catholic school again and the school and the girls were all the happier for it.)  This nun had some interesting things to say though.  Thank God for Google translate.

“ **The sisters of the prophecy will not be of a docile or meek spirit.  They will be bold and unyielding.  Be glad of the fire in their hearts and do not try to extinguish it.  This spirit and fire will serve them well.** ”

Now that Lily could get behind.  Bold and unyielding she understood.  She saved this and went back to read more.  That was when she noticed the name of the nun, which was only mentioned near the bottom of the page: Sister Assumpta Sullivan.  Lily stared at that for a minute, taking it in.  Then she quickly did a search for that name.  She found a page on her fairly quickly and this one even had a picture of the nun, albeit a very faded, blurry one.  Still it was enough to make Lily turn to her sister and pull her headphones off.

“Lily what-” Rose started to ask before Lily cut her off.

“Does that look like me?” She demanded, shoving her tablet under Rose’s nose.  The boys were staring at them both.  Rose pulled back and looked at the picture her sister was showing her.  She furrowed her brow.  “Ya, I guess so.  I mean obviously way different hair and it’s an old picture.  Why, who is she?”

Daisy had taken her headphones off, realizing something was going on.  Lily had everyone’s attention now.  She smiled triumphantly before declaring “Sister Assumpta Sullivan”.

Rose looked at her for a second before saying gently “Sullivan is a pretty common Irish name, Lil.”  She didn’t want to crush Lily’s excitement over her find but it was likely just a coincidence.

“She’s from Dalkey” Lily said.

Rose frowned.  “Well ok, yes, that’s an interesting coincidence but-“

“Why’s Dalkey a big deal?” Dean interrupted.

“It’s where our dad was from” Rose explained.

“I thought he was from Dublin” Dean said, looking confused.

Dalkey is technically in Dublin.  It’s a suburb just out of the city center.”

Lily was getting frustrated; feeling like Rose wasn’t seeing how big this was.  “Rose” she said, urgently.  “Look what it says under her picture.”

Rose read the words and her face paled.  “Thoradh ar gach bóthar baile” she whispered.  Daisy gasped and Lily nodded her head triumphantly.

“OK girls, want to tell us what that means?” Sam asked, his pen poised over his notebook.

Lily looked at Rose and she nodded, indicating Lily should explain.  This was Lily’s find after all.  “Thoradh ar gach bóthar baile is the only Irish I know” Lily explained.  “Our dad said it a lot.  It means “All Roads Lead Home”.  Whenever he was telling us about something to do with Ireland he was proud of or some great Irish trait we had he would quote it.”  She sat back with a triumphant smile on her face.  "So we have a nun who looks like me, with the same last name as us, who is from Dalkey and she’s got Dad’s favorite quote under her picture.  I don’t believe that’s coincidence.  Oh and here’s what she had to say about us:

“ **The sisters of the prophecy will not be of a docile or meek spirit.  They will be bold and unyielding.  Be glad of the fire in their hearts and do not try to extinguish it.  This spirit and fire will serve them well.** ”

Sam motioned for Lily to hand him the tablet.  He looked at the picture of Assumpta and showed it to Daisy as well before passing it to Dean.  She did in fact bear a striking resemblance to Lily, though like Rose said it was such an old picture.  Dean shrugged when he saw the picture and passed it back to Lily.  She did look like Lily.

“I like what I found way better than what you two found” Lily said to her sisters, a competitive edge to her voice.  “You guys got gloom and doom and catastrophe.  I got bold and fire, basically this nun telling us we rock.”  Sam chuckled softly, loving Lily’s take on this.

Rose wasn’t so amused though.  “Ya um, did you think about _why_ we need to be bold and full of fire?  Maybe to deal with the doom, gloom and catastrophe.”

Lily gave her a dirty look.  “Well that’s a totally Debbie Downer way of looking at it” she muttered.

Sam broke in before Rose could respond.  “That was a significant find, Lil.  Good job” and Lily predictably preened.

Rose put her headphones back on and got back to researching.  An hour later though she had to admit that Lily might just be onto something.  Agatha Fitzgerald had been at the church in Dalkey, along with Father Kieran Docherty and Assumpta Sullivan.  That was way too much of a coincidence to brush off.

She glanced over at Dean, noticing the serious look on his face and wondered just what he had found to make him look so intense.

Despite being mildly distracted by Rose’s impromptu concert, Dean had found a few things on the internet about dream telepathy, at least enough of a description of what had happened to him that he was fairly sure that’s what it was.  Rose showing up as a little girl apparently was because she subconsciously believed he would trust her more in that form.  A lot of the articles discussed couples being able to do this, especially soul mates.  That had caused Dean to pause, before he pushed that aside for now.  Then he pulled out his dad’s journal on the off chance something was mentioned in there.  He had hit the mother load.

John Winchester had met a couple up in Seattle in the early 90’s.  There had been some weird things going on with the wife, (illness, out of character behavior) making the husband believe that something wasn't right.  There had been a few weird deaths in the area, all married women, which is why John was there in the first place.  The husband had known Bobby some years back and asked John if he would meet with them.  In this case the couple actually broke the case for him.  The man swore his wife came to him in a dream and told him that an evil spirit was sucking the life out of her at night in her sleep but she couldn't remember it during the day time.  This was the only way she could communicate with him but she remembered nothing of the dreams herself.  Turned out she was right, some form of an incubus was draining the wife's life away.  Because of the dream John was able to trap and kill the incubus, saving the wife's life.  John had made a notation that they had an amazing bond and were a “hell of a couple”.  Dean filed this all away in his head as something to think about later. At least he was fairly confident it wasn't anything to do with Rose's powers.  What it meant for he and Rose he could worry about later.

* * *

After combing the web for a few hours and finding some details about Agatha, Rose took her earphones off and asked Dean what time Charlie would be there.  When he said five she knew she had to get dinner started.

"You really want to help?" She asked him with a shy little smile.

Dean gave her a big smile.  "Of course."  He caught Lily watching them over Rose's shoulder again and glared at her.  What was her deal today?

Once Rose had emailed all her finding to Sam and saved everything, Dean took her hand and stood up with her.  “Rose and I are going to go make dinner.  Keep an ear out for Charlie.  She should be here in the next few hours” and they had headed off, hand in hand towards the kitchen.  Lily stared after them a bemused look on her face.

“They’re cooking together?” she asked, her disbelief obvious in her voice.  Sam shrugged, not sure why this was such a big deal.

“Rose never cooks with anyone.”

Sam looked at her quizzically, a knowing smile on his face.  “Oh ya, do you offer a lot?”

“Ok smartass, that’s not the point." Lily's lack of cooking skill (and even less interest) was well known.  "Rose likes her time alone in the kitchen.  That’s what she always tells us.”

“Well I guess her time alone is going to include Dean today” Sam said.  Lily just rolled her eyes at his obvious cluelessness and went back to her tablet.

* * *

"So lasagna" Dean said, entering the kitchen and rubbing his hands together.  "Is this some special recipe?"  Rose was busily pulling her hair up into a ponytail, using a rubber band she'd had around her iPod.

"It's two recipes actually.  Daisy went thought a no meat phase and I started making veggie lasagna.  When she went back to eating meat again we all really still liked the veggie one.  So I usually make one with meat and one with spinach and cheese."  Rose giggled at the face Dean was making.  Obviously to him the concept of not eating meat was more horrifying than any demon.  "You don't have to eat the veggie one if you don't want to, Dean."  He breathed a sigh of relief and gave her a grateful smile.  "Though you know, you could try it.  You might like it."  Dean gave her a dubious look but didn't come out and say no, so Rose was counting that as a win.

Dean pulled out two big casserole pans for her and Rose got busy browning the meat and asked Dean to chop up some veggies for her.  She looked at him out of the corner of her eye while the hamburger meat sizzled away on the stove.  This was different.  Rose hadn't really cooked with anyone since Daisy had been a sophomore in high school and wanted to make dinner for her boyfriend, which had really meant Rose cooked with Daisy coming up with ideas for the menu.  Usually it was just Rose in the kitchen with an occasional visit from one of her sisters to chat.  She smiled, surprised to find she quite liked this.

"So you're pretty interesting to watch when you research" Dean said, neatly slicing up mushrooms.  He chuckled.  "It was like watching a silent concert."

Rose groaned and turned the color of the sauce she was starting to work on.  "Oh I know.  I just...get lost in the music.  I've gotten better at least about not actually singing aloud with my head phones on.  That caused some embarrassing moments at Starbucks."  Dean laughed, picturing that in his mind. 

"Did you find anything out in your research?" Rose asked curiously, realizing he hadn't shared anything.

Dean was quite for a few minutes then said "Apparently last night was one example of dream telepathy."  Dean hadn't been planning on saying anything about that but she'd asked and he didn't want to lie.

Rose looked at him in confusion for a second before realization dawned on her.  "Oh the dream you had?"

Dean nodded, finishing up the mushrooms and moving onto the garlic.  Rose admired his knife skills.  She would have chalked it up to being a hunter but the few times she'd asked Lily to chop anything for her it had been a mess.  "So how's it work?  Because I don't remember anything about it" Rose said.  Rose came over and took the garlic from him, handing him an onion to tackle next.  "Thanks, Sweetie" she said and Dean smiled when she walked away.  He was pretty sure the only other person to ever call him Sweetie was his mom.

"Apparently it's something that usually happens spontaneously.  My dad actually had a case up in Seattle he mentioned in his journal."  Before Dean knew it he was telling Rose about the case.  He wasn't sure how that had happened.  He hadn't been planning on saying anything.  This had a tendency to happen with Rose.  When he was on the road and things had gone bad on a hunt he would call, intending just to talk and get his mind off things and the next thing he knew he was telling her all the details of the hunt, including what went wrong.  He’d end up feeling a lot better having gotten it all off his chest.  He didn’t know how she did it but she made him want to talk and share things.  This whole concept was foreign to Dean, but he had to admit it had its upside.

Rose's eyes got big as she listened to the details.  She smiled when Dean told her his dad had been impressed by the couple.  "That's actually really amazing" she said softly.  "She must have really trusted him to know he would believe her."  She smiled shyly at Dean then.  "A bond like that is pretty awe inspiring."  Dean smiled back at her, suddenly feeling a wonderful warmth in his chest.  She was right, it was pretty amazing.

"Ok these onions are chopped, want them in the sauce?"  Rose nodded and Dean brought them over and dumped them in the pot on the stove.  "Now what?"

"You can put a layer of lasagna noodles in the casserole dishes.  Oh and can you chop up some more garlic? I'm going to make some garlic bread to go with the lasagna."

"Your wish is my command." Dean gave Rose a small bow and then laughed at the wicked smile on her face.  "You really shouldn't be able to do that."

"Do what?" Rose asked innocently.

"Look as sweet and innocent as can be then flash that smile that I know means you're thinking something dirty."

"Yes, but Dean no one else knows that."  She smiled slyly at him.  "I'm Saint Rose, remember?"

"Saint Rose who has sex under the bleachers" Dean muttered, with a smirk.

"Shhh!" Rose looked around making sure they were the only ones in the kitchen.  "Daisy doesn't know about that and I want to keep it that way.  Counting you and Sam there's exactly six people who do and that's plenty."

Dean chuckled at Rose's expression.  Having finished with the noodles he was back to chopping garlic.  "Something you're not proud of then?" He asked, honestly curious how she felt.

"Honestly?" Dean nodded and Rose shrugged. "I'm not ashamed of it.  I knew what I was doing and at the time it's what I wanted.  I was 17, trying to rebel and Danny was wonderful for that.  Did I mention he had a motorcycle?”  Dean shook his head.  “Oh ya, which my mother despised, making it all the more alluring.  He was fun." She shrugged.  "Until he wasn't."

Oh there was a story there, Dean knew, just from her expression.  He was definitely going to get the details.

"Then again it's not sex in a cop car after I got arrested" Rose smirked at Dean.

"True" He said with a grin.  "I'm tough to beat in that respect."  Rose rolled her eyes at his pride in that fact but he saw her smile too.

Rose lowered the heat on the sauce, leaving it to simmer for just a bit.  She came over and kissed Dean soundly on the lips.  "You're an excellent kitchen helper" she said, smiling at him.

Dean wiped his hands off then wrapped them around Rose's waist, grinning at her.  "Well hey, if the pay is always this good I'll be back for more."

* * *

Charlie pulled up outside the bunker, brimming with excitement and anticipation.  She honestly hadn’t sped too much to get here but it had been tough not to.  She wanted to meet these girls who obviously were a big part of the brothers’ lives, a part she hadn’t gotten to see up until now.  She’d seen a few pictures, heard stories, lots and lots of stories, going back to when they were kids.  She liked those stories as they tended to be happy ones, ones where the boys had some moments of normal in their lives.  Sam and Dean laughed a lot during those stories too and that was always a good thing.  These boys deserved happiness.

She let herself into the bunker, yelling out a cheerful greeting of “What’s up Bitches?”

The first thing she saw, looking into the library from the top of the stairs was a blond girl seated next to Sam with headphones on.  She seemed completely focused on what she was reading on her computer, the headphones blocking out Charlie’s greeting.  Seated across from Sam was a strikingly pretty girl with short dark hair who turned to look at Charlie when she came in.  She seemed to be eyeing Charlie, deciding if she was friend or foe.  Sam stood up, a warm smile on his face and came to greet her.

Charlie came down the stairs and was enveloped in a warm hug from Sam.  “Your Highness” he said, with a grin, still hanging onto that nickname.

“Sam, how’s it going?” Charlie asked, hugging him back.  She pulled back to look at him.  He looked good, relaxed.  That was a nice change.  Over Sam’s shoulder she saw the dark haired girl nudging the blond with her foot and motioning towards them with her head.

“Good, we’re good.  Got a lot of info we need so I’m glad you’re here.”  He smiled.  “Come on, meet the girls.”

Sam lead her towards the library and Charlie noticed the blond had her headphones off now and was staring at her curiously.

“Charlie, this is Daisy” Sam motioned to the blond and she gave a little wave and a smile which Charlie returned.  She was adorably cute, with big green eyes and loads of blond ringlet curls.  She looked like Charlie had pictured angels when she was a kid.  Before she met Cas, that is.

“And this is Lily.”  Oh interesting.  His voice was totally different on that introduction.  Lily smiled and said “Hey.”  She was definitely being sized up by her that was for sure.  Lily was really gorgeous, with long legs and a smoking hot body.  Definitely not the warmest person though.  Those brown eyes of hers were really guarded.

“Hey!” Charlie said back, cheerfully.  “I’ve heard a lot about you guys.  Nice to finally meet you.” Turning to Sam she asked “Where’s Dean?”

Sam grinned.  “He’s in the kitchen, making dinner.  Oh no wait, sorry” he threw Lily a little look, “He’s helping make dinner.”  Charlie didn’t quite get what that look was about but Sam was obviously amused.

“Great, I’ll go say hi and stash my stuff in my room.  Then I’ll get going on those websites.”

“Give me your keys and I’ll bring your stuff in” Sam said and Charlie handed them over with a word of thanks.

Charlie set off to the kitchen, assuming she would find the famous Rose there with Dean.  She wasn’t totally prepared for what she found when she got there though.  Charlie would be the first to admit she was slightly nosy but in this case she couldn’t help it.  She stopped just outside the door and watched the scene before her unfold as if she was watching her favorite piece of fanfiction come to life.  She’d seen Dean flirt with girls before and she’d seen more girls than she could count flirt with him.  But this, this was different.

A pretty redhead was standing at the kitchen counter where Dean was seated.  There were casserole dishes in front of them and the girl was adding sauce to something in the pans and talking to Dean while she worked.  Dean for his part was staring at the girl the whole time.  His eyes never once left her face and Charlie had never seen him look at anyone that way.  _Enraptured_ , Charlie’s mind whispered.  That summed up how he looked at her perfectly, as if she was the most exquisite creature he had ever laid eyes on.  The redhead smiled at him and her eyes were just drinking him up every time she looked at him.  Oh this was just too good to be true.

“-can’t just be hunter skills” the redhead said, her words hitting Charlie’s ears as she inched closer.  “I got Lily to cut vegetables for me once and it was a nightmare.”

“What can I say, Princess?  I have talented hands.”  Dean winked at her and she blushed.  Princess?  He called her Princes?  Holy crap this was awesome!

“Don’t I know it” the redhead murmured and Charlie had a momentary twinge of conscious.  But hey, Dean said she was like his little sister.  Little sisters had a right to be nosy, right?

“See, it’s all about skill and dexterity” Dean said, adding some noodles to the pan when the redhead motioned to him.  They must be making lasagna, Charlie realized.

“So are you saying my sister isn’t skilled?” the girl said.  “Better watch it.  Lily will smack you for that.”

“Let’s just say I honed my finger skills in ways I’m pretty sure your sister hasn’t” Dean said, with a wicked grin.  “Or hey who knows?  That’s between her and Sammy.”

“Dean!” the girl was mock outraged, laughing while smacking at Dean’s arm.  “That is just downright filthy!”

Charlie was struck with the sudden fear that Dean might decide to show off his skills and that was something she never needed to see.  Time to make her entrance.

Taking a breath she breezed into the room.  “Hey There!” she said cheerfully, a bright smile on her face.

Dean looked up and upon seeing Charlie a big grin spread across his face and he rose to meet her.  “Hey Kiddo!” he said, enveloping her in a hug.

“Hey yourself” she said, hugging him back just as hard.  God, she missed these guys.  She really did need to spend more time here.

Dean kissed her forehead.  “Glad you’re here” he said gruffly and Charlie smiled up at him.  His eyes were sparkling and his smile was bright.  He looked happy and Charlie struggled to think of a time she had seen him look truly happy. 

Over Dean’s shoulder she saw the redhead smiling and wiping her hands on a dishtowel.  Dean pulled back and introduced them.  “Rosie, this is Charlie.”

Rose surprised her by coming forward and hugging her.  Oh good, another hugger in the bunch.  Finally.  “I can’t believe I’m only just now meeting you” Rose said.

“Me too!” Charlie gushed, grinning at Rose when she pulled back from the hug.  “I’ve heard so much about you!”  Rose looked nothing like Lily, Charlie thought, looking her over quickly.  She was shorter and curvier, with long wavy red hair (A big thumbs up in Charlie’s book.  The world needed more redheads.) and huge blue eyes.  Most importantly, in Charlie’s opinion, she looked warm.  Dean needed that.

“Me too!” Rose said and Dean rolled his eyes, but couldn’t hide his grin.  He knew they would get along.

“So I’m going to go dump my bag in my room” Charlie said “and I’ll get things setup in the library.”

Dean smiled, watching Charlie head in the direction of the bedrooms.  He turned to find Rose smiling at him.  “What?” he asked, coming back to the counter and adding more noodles into the casserole dishes.

“I like her” Rose said.

“Just like that?  You guys barely said two sentences to each other.”

Rose shrugged.  “I know when I like someone.”  She could tell right off the bat how much Charlie cared about Dean.  That was all it took for her.

Dean didn’t get that but he was glad they liked each other.  “Well good, I’m glad.”

They worked in silence for a minute and Dean could see Rose was mulling something over in her head.  Proving him right, a minute later she turned to him.  “If I say something do you promise just to listen and not argue?  I’m not asking you to agree, just take in what I say without automatically shooting it down.”  Dean hesitated and then slowly nodded.

Unbeknownst to either of them Charlie was going past on her way back to the library and had stopped when she heard Rose’s words.  No way could she walk away now.  She had to hear this.

“You have the most amazing heart, Dean.  No shush, you promised.”  She laid her finger across his lips when he started to protest and he nodded slowly, looking uncomfortable, like he did whenever anyone praised him.  “You’re a great hunter and way more handsome than anyone should be, but the most special thing about you?” She placed her hand on his chest, over where his heart was. “It’s this.  This heart is so much stronger than you give yourself credit for.  The people you love, you love them fiercely.”  Rose looked in Dean’s eyes and he felt how much she meant this, how true these words were to her and how strongly she felt them. “That’s a trait a lot of people don’t have, Dean.  You should be proud of it.”  She smiled at him then, a smile that stole his breath away.  “I know I am.”

And she turned and immediately started telling him what they needed to do to the garlic bread next.  Rose knew Dean didn’t like compliments but if you didn't dwell on it and you talked about something else quickly after, it gave him less time to feel uncomfortable.  Dean listened to what she was saying now, not really taking it in, but slowly he realized that warm feeling was back in his chest again and he liked it. He smiled and placing a hand on Rose's waist he placed a soft kiss on the side of her neck.  Rose smiled, knowing that was Dean’s equivalent of thank you.

Charlie was smiling from ear to ear as she set off for the library again.  Oh yes, she definitely liked this girl.


	38. Then You Don't Know Nothin' 'bout Girls

Once the lasagna was in the oven and the garlic bread was ready to add once the time was right Rose shooed Dean out, knowing he wanted to see Charlie.  She was sure they had catching up to do and she was just going to hang out here in the kitchen till she could put the bread in the oven.  Dean kissed her lightly, telling her she was the hottest chef he knew and sauntered off towards the library.

Rose smiled.  She loved seeing him happy.  She wanted to get to know Charlie but there would be time for that later.  She figured Charlie and the boys could use some time together and besides she knew there would most likely be talk about the prophecy and she could really use a break from that.  She was doing her best not to freak out and go into total melt down mode after all the stuff they're learned today.  Mostly she was doing that by not thinking about it.  Yep, that seemed like a wise course of action.

She pulled out her phone while she was waiting and saw she had a text from Chastity, asking how things were going, and saying she needed to come visit so they could have a girl’s night out.  Rose laughed, knowing her idea of a night out was probably much wilder than anything Rose was up for.  She texted back quickly saying things were good and she didn't think she'd be anywhere near Chastity's area for awhile but if and when she was they’d definitely get together.

Lily came in just as Rose was slipping her phone back in her pocket.  She could tell from the look on Lily's face something had her upset.

"Hey Lil" she said, taking a seat at the counter.  "What's up?"

"Nothing" she said, wandering around the kitchen.  Rose knew this tactic well.  Lily wanted to talk about something desperately but didn't want to seem too anxious.  Rose knew eventually Lily would get around to asking.

"Where's Daisy?" she asked.

"Sam broke the researching up so he could get what's her face going.  So Daisy went back to her room.  Said to call her when dinner was ready."  Lily made a face.  "She's acting really weird, don't you think?"

Rose thought about it a minute.  "She's quiet.  That's never a good sign" she agreed.

"And she's spending a lot of time on her own.  When has she ever done that?"

"Well it's gotta be tough.  There's no one here really close to her age" Rose said.  "But ya, she definitely is acting weird.  We need to keep an eye on her."

Lily wandered around some more, finally making her way to the counter and taking a seat across from Rose on the other stool.

"So this girl" Lily said.

“You mean Charlie?” Rose asked and Lily nodded.  Aw, so that's what this was about.

"Mm hmmm" Rose said, "what about her?"

"What do you know about her?"

Rose looked at Lily, trying to figure out where this was going.  "I know she's been friends with the boys for awhile now.  She's like their adopted sister."

"Ya, Sam seemed really happy to see her."  Lily however sounded anything but happy.  Rose studied her for a second.  Lily was prone to bouts of jealousy, especially if she felt like her spot in your life was being challenged.  Was that what was going on here?

"You know she's not into guys, right?" Rose asked.  At Lily's blank look Rose elaborated.  "Charlie's gay.  She likes girls."

"Oh" Lily said, causing Rose to roll her eyes.  Did she and Sam ever talk?  Lily still looked put out though.

"Lily, Sam is crazy about you.  He looks at Charlie like a little sister" Rose said, hoping to assuage her fears.

"Oh ya, I know" Lily said, biting her lip.  "Do you think we can trust her though? I mean, her knowing everything really makes us all vulnerable, don't you think?"

Rose blinked, taking a second to realize Lily was concerned about Charlie knowing about the prophecy.  So that’s what this was about.  "Dean trusts her so I trust her.  End of story" Rose said firmly.  She was not going down this road again.  "Dean and Sam don’t trust just anyone, you know.  If we trust them then we have to trust Charlie.  And they think she can figure out those websites with more writings from the priest.  Unless you've suddenly taken up code deciphering …" Rose said, challenging her sister to argue.

"No you're right" Lily said.  "It’s just hard to get used to other people knowing after all these years.  We spent how many years not telling anyone, even people we trusted and now suddenly a girl we don't even know is in on our big family secret.  It's just taking time to get used to."  She fidgeted with her earring a moment, then looked at Rose.  “Did all that shit this morning freak you out as bad as it did me?”

Rose nodded then said “Ya, I’m taking the path of not thinking about it.  I’ll have a nervous breakdown later at a more convenient time,” earning a laugh from Lily.

"Good plan.  So how'd the cooking with Dean go?"

Rose smiled at her.  "Great.  He's a fabulous kitchen assistant."

"You don't usually cook with anyone" Lily said, eyeing her sister curiously.

Rose laughed.  "Who would I cook with, Lil?  You hate it and Daisy's not interested."

The timer beeped and Rose got up and put the garlic bread in and reset the timer.

"Ya know we still have a lot of alcohol left" Lily murmured, eyeing the stash on the counter that hadn't gone down very much.  "Maybe we could have a little fun tonight after dinner."

"Daisy's here" Rose reminded her sister.

"She's drank before, Rosie, just not with us around.  Come on, she's 19.  It's not like we didn't drink at her age" Lily reasoned.

Rose frowned.  Lily was right, of course.  She knew Daisy had drunk at parties and she and Lily had drank in high school.  She just felt uneasy about it but she was probably just being overprotective.  After all the emotional news of the morning it might do them all good to unwind. "You're right" she said, smiling at Lily.  "But we both need to keep an eye on Daisy and not let it get out of hand.  And none of your game, ok?"

"Of course not.  That's strictly for us four."  Rose breathed a sigh of relief, thankful that Lily wouldn’t be making them all play some high school drinking games.

"So thirty minutes for dinner?" Rose nodded.  "Great, I'm gonna go close my eyes for just a few.  This prophecy crap is tiring" and Lily headed off to her and Sam's room leaving Rose alone in the kitchen once again.

* * *

In the library Sam was giving Charlie a super brief rundown of what they knew about the basic prophecy and Father Docherty when Dean joined them.

"So you got enough to get set up and running?" Dean asked, flopping down in one of the chairs.

Charlie nodded.  "I'll need a few minutes to get everything set up but once I do we should at least be able to get started."  She clicked a few buttons and grinned over the top of her computer at the boys.  "You were right by the way."  Sam raised a questioning eyebrow and Charlie explained.  "They really are hot."

Both boys laughed.  "I swear I don't ever remember describing them that way" Dean said and Charlie just smiled at him.

"You good to go, Charlie?" Sam asked.  He had seen how stiff Lily had been around Charlie and wanted to check on her.  At Charlie's nod he went off in search of Lily.

Charlie watched him walk out and then looked at Dean.  "Are him and Lily.." Dean nodded.  "Huh.  Interesting.  She's not really what I would have pictured as his type."  Dean looked at her questioningly and Charlie expounded.  "She's not very friendly." She frowned.  "And she didn't seem to like me very much."

"Lily takes a bit to warm up to people" Dean said.  “Her and Sam though, they're good together.  I know she's a little…” Dean searched for the right phrase, settling on “rough around the edges, but once you get to know her she's cool."

Charlie nodded, deciding to take Dean's word for it for now.  "And you and the hot redhead?" She asked with a grin, then amended "Well the other hot redhead" making Dean laugh.

"Ya, she is hot, isn't she?" He asked with a smile.  Then he smirked at Charlie.  "But I don't kiss and tell."

"Since when?" Charlie exclaimed.  "You love to kiss and tell.  You’re the king of kiss and tell.  Kissing and telling is your  favorite past time."  Charlie gave him a look.  "You live to dish details."

"You want details Sam and Lily will dish all you want.  Just get a hold of her phone.  You can even have pictures." That got a surprised look from Charlie.

Standing up, Dean gave Charlie a one armed hug.  "Glad you're here, Kiddo.  I think dinner will be ready soon."

"Great, just let me know.  I should be up and running by then."  Watching Dean walk away Charlie realized that between them the brothers had told her three times already how glad they were she was here.  They were definitely concerned.  Charlie typed away on her keyboard, thinking over all the interesting turn of events going on here.  Watching the boys with these girls was fascinating.  Charlie grinned.  She was looking forward to tonight.

* * *

Sam found Lily lying on their bed, staring at a frame she'd taken off one of his bookshelves.  He flopped down next to her on the bed, causing her to bounce a little.  He grinned at her.

"What you doing, Lil?"

"Just thinking."  She motioned to the picture in her hand.  "That was such a fun day" she said, causing Sam to look at the picture too.  In it, a much younger Sam and Lily were standing on the front porch of the Sullivan home.  Lily was standing next to Sam, their arms wrapped around each other and while Sam was looking at the camera with a wide, easy grin on his face, Lily's eyes were solely on Sam. Rose and Dean were next to them in the picture, Rose standing behind Dean with her arms around him and both were looking at each other and laughing.

Sam smiled, looking at it.  "It really was.  That picture always makes me happy." It had been taken just before they headed to the lake.  They had spent the whole day there and hadn't come home till after dark.  John had been working a case not too far from Hastings and had dropped them both off at the Sullivan's instead of dragging them along for once.  He did that less and less the older the boys got, so this was a rare day of carefree fun from Sam's teenage years.

"My dad took this" Lily said softly, then she laughed.  "He teased me about the way I was looking at you in this picture, said I was lusting after a baby." Sam laughed and Lily said "Well let's be honest, you were total jail bait in this picture, Sammy.  You weren't even towering above everyone else yet.  You were much too young for me but you sure were yummy."  Lily was quiet for a minute, her finger tracing the picture thoughtfully.  "You know what my dad said to me next?" Sam shook his head and Lily smiled.  "Not yet." She laughed at Sam's stunned expression.  "I hadn't thought of that in years.  I think I'd actually forgotten about it till today.  I'd say my dad was some kind of psychic, I mean why not?  Everyone else in this family is freaky in one way or other.  But then again if he was he would have known some of the crazier shit I got up to as a teenager and I would have never been allowed to leave the house again."  Sam chuckled, knowing Lily truly had been a terror as a teenager, getting into crazy messes, most of which her parents knew nothing about.  "So I guess he just knew my heart better than I did, because I certainly never saw us coming."

"I like that idea" Sam said quietly, "That he saw something in us he thought would work.  I like that a lot."

"Me too" Lily said.  “Then again he might have just been concerned I was going to seduce a teenager” she couldn’t resist adding with a smirk, causing Sam to roll his eyes.  With a sigh she reached up and placed the picture on one of the bedside tables.  "So I have to ask, Charlie, you trust her?"

Sam blinked, trying to keep up with the quick subject change.  Once his mind had adjusted he answered confidently

"Absolutely."

"You know you should have asked us before you called her." Lily fixed Sam with a slightly reproachful look.  "That prophecy and the things that priest and those nuns wrote, they're about us.  You and Dean didn't even ask, you just called in some girl we don't know to work on them."

"You're right" Sam said, with a guilty twinge.  "I didn't even think about it.  We're just so used to hitting the ground running.  We have a few people we really trust who we go to.  I didn't even think about this not being completely our choice.  I'm sorry."

Lily smiled.  "For the record I don't think Rose or Daisy had an issue with it.  This is me.  I have to look out for them and if I don't know what's going on I can’t do that.  This all just feels horribly out of control and I need to feel I have some control over these choices."

"I get it" Sam said.  "I do and I'm so sorry.  I should have thought of that."

"It's ok.  You swear she's trustworthy?"

Sam nodded.  "Totally.  I'd trust her with anything."

Lily nodded.  "Ok then I'll try.  It's hard for me to trust someone just because someone else says I should, but I'll try."

"Charlie's brilliant, Lily. If anyone can crack those websites it's her.  And she's family.  I'd trust her with my life, otherwise I never would have let her anywhere near any of you."

Lily nodded then admitted "Rose says I have trust issues."

"Well ya, you kinda do" Lily smacked his shoulder. "But I get why.  And it's ok.  Trust issues, control freak" That earned him a shriek of protest, "Whatever, I'll take it, as long as I get you."

"I'm the control freak?" Lily demanded and Sam nodded with a grin.  "Oh right!  Well just for that Sammy, guess who's getting tied up tonight?  I'll give you one guess and it's not me!"  And after placing a firm kiss on his lips Lily flounced out of the room.

Sam lay on the bed for a minute after she left.  God, she was a crazy, beautiful, overwhelming handful.  And, he thought with a grin, looking up at the scarves still tied to their bedposts, she was all his.  And that was one thing in this crazy mess that he wouldn't give up for anything.

* * *

A short while later the timer dinged signaling dinner was ready.  Dean helped Rose get the lasagna and bread out from the oven and to the table where Lily had lain out plates for everyone, while everyone gathered around.  Charlie watched as Rose kissed Daisy's head and hugged her.  "Enjoy your lasagna, Baby" she said and Daisy smiled at her, thanking her.  These sisters were tight, Charlie thought with a touch of envy.

Soon everyone was digging into the food.  There were a lot of admiring oohs and ahhs as first bites were taken and the chef got much praise, which she in turn shared with her assistant, swearing his knife skills had been a huge help.

"It's all in the hands" Dean said, giving Rose a grin that caused her to blush.  Charlie noticed Dean seemed to take great pleasure in getting Rose to blush.

Sam asked about the story behind the two lasagnas and Daisy filled him in.  Dean once again looked pained at the thought of no meat but Rose noticed he had taken a small piece of the veggie lasagna and he finished it.  That was huge for Dean and caused Rose to smile happily.

“So have you guys been busy?” Charlie asked, munching on some garlic bread.  This food was really good.  Dean loved to eat and Rose was obviously a great cook so they were a perfect match in that regard.  "Lots of crazy cases rolling in?”

Sam gave Dean a look before answering.  “No, it’s actually been pretty quiet.  Just been doing a lot of research and some training.”

Dean leaned over and whispered in Rose’s ear “Back to training tomorrow, Sweetheart.”  Her wrinkled nose let him know how overjoyed she was about that thought but she didn’t try to get out of it which was an improvement.

“So I was thinking” Lily said, casting a sideways glance Rose’s way, “After such an intense day we all deserve a treat tonight.  How about some alcoholic beverages after dinner to help us relax?”

“Me too?” Daisy asked, looking the most excited they had seen her about anything in days.

Lily nodded her head and Rose added “Not too much though, Daisy.  Mom will freak if you get drunk.”

Daisy nodded and Rose saw Lily wink at their younger sister out of the corner of her eye.  Oh Lord, this could be a disaster.  Dean gave Rose a questioning look and she shrugged.  This wasn’t her idea.

Once dinner was done Lily, Sam and Daisy cleared the table.  Dean went into the library with Rose and Charlie where Lily had been adamant they congregate.

“Should I move my stuff to a different room?” Charlie asked, motioning to her laptop that was working away.

“Ya know what?  Let’s move it out there” Dean said, motioning to the map room.  While Charlie unplugged it Dean pulled Rose aside.

“Are you ok with this?” he asked, seeing the worry on her face.  “I can be the bossy jerk who won’t let Daisy drink if it bothers you that much.”

“Thanks I appreciate that.  No, I’m sure she’ll be ok.  I’m more worried about Lily, honestly.  She was thrown for a loop by that prophecy talk today.  She can get a bit out of control when she’s upset.”

“I’m sure Sam will keep an eye on her” Dean said.  “But if it comes to it I don’t mind pissing her off.”

“Thanks” Rose repeated, smiling up at him gratefully.

“Anything for my girl” Dean said, kissing her forehead, then he leaned down and whispered in her ear "That veggie lasagna wasn't bad."  Charlie grinned behind his back and Rose blushed, catching that.

“I love your shirt, Rose” Charlie said, coming back into the library and motioning to her t-shirt.

“Thanks” Rose said with a smile.  “I’ve almost got Dean convinced to watch it.”  Charlie turned on Dean with an incredulous expression.

“You haven’t watched Orphan Black yet?” Charlie shook her head at Dean’s shrug.  “Oh ya, that has to be remedied.”

The trio from the kitchen came in then, carrying alcohol and shot glasses.

"Let the fun begin!" Lily declared.

* * *

An hour later the library had two drunken individuals and two slightly tipsy ones.  The most surprising fact was that one of the drunks was Sam.  He and Lily had gotten into some kind of competition over shots and now the two of them were fairly well sloshed.  Lily was currently seated on Sam's lap, a half empty bottle of tequila in her hands and the two of them were having a nonsensical conversation about rope that made utter sense to them.  Daisy and Rose, the slightly tipsy party members (Daisy much more so than Rose) were seated in the leather chairs at the side of the library, talking about books and movies, their two great loves.  It was a bit of a rambling conversation but not totally without merit, as long as you were able to keep up with the quick topic changes (though to be fair that last part could be true of any of their conversations, whether alcohol was involved or not.)

Dean and Charlie had moved out to the maproom not long after the drinking had begun.  They had had one shot a piece (Though Dean had brought another with him that he'd been hanging onto) and neither had wanted more, though for different reasons.  Dean wanted to keep an eye on all the girls, especially once it was clear Sam was matching Lily on shots.  Charlie wanted a clear head without a hangover to work on the website cracking the next day and if she was honest, she wasn't entirely comfortable getting drunk with people she didn't know that well yet.

So Dean and Charlie were seated in the maproom watching the drinking party and talking.  It started off as just a general catch up on things and then Charlie got down to the good stuff.  They were far enough away from everyone else to have this talk and Charlie wasn't going to let that fact go to waste.

"So those two" she said, nodding towards Sam and Lily, who had started mixing heated kisses into their drunken conversation.  "Is it serious?"

Dean toyed with the shot of whiskey he'd brought in with him.  "He says so" Dean said, eyeing Sam.  "Shocked the hell out of me.  I thought it was just a convenient hook up.  Apparently not.  She's moved into his room."

Charlie watched the drunken couple.  "They look good together" she conceded, watching Lily weave her fingers through Sam's hair, while he smiled dopily up at her. "They'd make pretty babies."

Dean choked on the shot of whiskey he'd finally decided to drink.  "Holy Shit, Charlie don't say stuff like that."

Charlie laughed.  "Sorry.  I didn't mean to make you choke.  I just can't get a read on her so I can't really judge anything aside from looks."

Dean shrugged.  "Sam's happy and she's tough, can hold her own in a fight.  So it's good."

"Geez Dean, try not to sound too excited."

Dean grinned.  "No really, it's good.  They make each other happy.  Just, I don't know, it's taking me some time to wrap my head around them being a couple.  Lily's, well ok if I'm honest, Lily is way too much like me and I'm not sure that's a good thing."

"You're afraid he's going to get hurt."

"Ya" Dean said with a nod.  "Ya, I really am."

"Well if it's any consolation she looks at him like he's the lead singer in her favorite boy band and she's his biggest fan" Charlie said, earning a laugh from Dean.

"I know she's into him.  I just, I'm worried that once this all settles down" he gestured to the library and the people in it "She'll go back to her happy, normal life and I'll be left with a giant heartbroken puppy."  He paused, then said quietly "Or worse, she'll stay and something will happen to her and it'll wreck him."

Charlie studied him.  "Are we still talking about Sam and Lily?"

"Of course" Dean said, with a dismissive look.

Charlie didn't push it, just nodded and said "Well any relationship comes with risks."

"Ya, but Charlie we're not exactly normal people."

"And they are?" Charlie said, looking at the girls in the library.  "Hunters, prophecies, that's a part of their everyday life."

"A part of it, but not all of it" Dean said.  "They live in a normal house, they have jobs and they know people who don't even know demons and monsters are real.  They have as normal a life possible for someone born into a family with hunters."

"Normal's overrated Dean, trust me."

"Maybe but it's a hell of a lot safer" Dean shot back.

"I know you're kinda new to the whole relationship thing so I'm going to give you a tip that you will definitely want to remember.  Those" she pointed to sisters "are adult women.  Ok maybe not Daisy but she's close and this isn't about her anyway.  It's about the other two.  They get to make their own decisions about what's best for them and what risks they want to take.  You and Sam can both be all the dominant alpha male you like and you still don't get to decide for them."

Dean just glared at Charlie but didn't say anything back.  Charlie just smirked at him, knowing that he knew deep down she was right.  She turned her head, watching Rose and Daisy now.  Rose had said something that had gotten Daisy really excited and she was gesturing and talking quickly, bouncing in her seat a bit.

"They're close, huh?" she asked.

Dean followed her eyes.  "Ya, all three of them are.  You know you said Lily didn't seem to like you?" Charlie nodded.  "Well I think it's more like she isn't sure she can trust you."  Dean went onto explain about the prophecy being kept a secret for so long.  He'd been thinking about Lily's reaction to Charlie and he figured it had to be that.  "So it's really more her being protective of her sisters.  She'll come around once she sees she can trust you."

"Wow that must suck to have to keep a secret like that for so long.  You guys didn't even know?"  Dean shook his head grimly and Charlie figured that probably hadn't gone over so well.

Lily let out a laugh in the background followed by Sam's deeper one and Charlie rolled her eyes.  Those two were having way too much fun.

"I know Sam said he'd fill me in on all the details tomorrow but what can they all do?"  She gestured to the sisters.  "He said they had powers?"

"Lily is super strong, like freaking Xena or something.  Daisy has dreams and visions of the future.  And Rosie, oh she's got a whole slew of powers.  The prophecy calls her the gifted one and she can control demons, move things with her mind and boost her sisters’ powers.  That's what we've figured out so far."

Charlie stared at Dean then stared at the sisters.  "That's just...wow, that's pretty unbelievable.  They're like real life super heroes."

"Oh and the three of them?  They pulled me Sam and Cas into one of Daisy's visions last week."

"Well haven't you guys been having fun."

Dean laughed.  "Oh ya.  It's been a whole roller coaster of excitement."  He looked serious then.  "It's been even harder on them, adjusting."  He explained about the transition of powers then, how Rose used to have the dreams.

"So she went from thinking her path was set to having everything change."  Charlie studied Rose.  "Hard to believe.  She looks so stable.  I think I would have seriously gone crazy if that happened to me."

"Ya, she's strong" Dean said, admiration ringing in his voice.

"OK so out with it, Dean" Charlie said, fixing him with an intent look.  "What's the deal with you and Rose?  There's obviously something between you two.  Is it serious?  Am I going to be making comments about you two making pretty babies next?"  Charlie was joking but she was determined as well.  She wanted answers.

Dean rolled his eyes at Charlie and considered his answer carefully.  He hadn't talked about this with anyone for a few reasons.  Firstly, Dean hated being vulnerable.  There were few people he would ever let himself show his vulnerable side to and even with those chosen people the times were few and far between.  Secondly he didn't really know how to explain what was going on between him and Rose.  They didn't discuss it, and aside from saying they were involved and that she was his girl they didn't put a label on it.  It just was there, this happy warm entity in the middle of the craziness of their lives.  And Thirdly, and probably most telling of all, Rose was his and his alone.  And while an inner voice in him would sometimes voice the opinion that that sounded very caveman like, another stronger voice drowned that voice out, saying simply that she was his, end of story.  From the moment Dean had laid eyes on her as a little boy she had always been this brilliant light for him, belonging to no one else.  It was no secret that Rose went out of her way to please Dean, that there was nothing she wouldn't do to make him happy.  Anyone who was around them for any amount of time could see that.  No one else in Dean's life had ever done that for him.  He guarded Rose and her spot in his life like a starving man would guard a crust of bread.  Except she wasn't just a crust of bread; she was a full feast that was just for him.  Rose made Dean happy in ways he couldn't even begin to describe.  She knew all the worst parts of him and his life and she still looked at him like he was her knight in shining armor.  He didn't understand how that was possible but he didn't question it.  She was too important for him to prod at it too much.

Still, he knew Charlie wouldn’t just leave it alone.  "Rose and I are..." Dean searched for some way to describe them, finally settling on (surprise, surprise) "Involved."

Charlie stared at him.  "Oh no, that's not gonna cut it.  I've seen you two together, obviously you're involved."  OK, taking this back to basics.  "You like her." Dean nodded.  "She likes you" another nod.  "You've both established this fact with each other." Nod.  "Are you two sharing a room?"

"I’ve been sleeping in her room" he said, not elaborating further.  Taking a deep breath Dean decided to just lay it out as plainly as he could, at least as much as he was willing to share.  "Rose is special.  She's...you know how we met right?" Charlie nodded.  "Right, so there's all this history between us, more than I have with anyone except Sam and Bobby.  She knows pretty much all there is to know about me.”  He was watching Rose now, as she was smiling and explaining something to Daisy with lots of hand movements.  “We’ve never talked about any of this, never had a conversation about what we’re doing.  It just is.”

“You know at some point you’ll kind of have to have some kind of conversation, right?” Charlie asked gently.

“Ya, I know.  Just not yet.  We’re good right now and there’s so much craziness going on for her.  She doesn’t need me throwing questions at her.”  Charlie raised her eyebrows at that but Dean was still watching Rose and didn’t see.

“I’ve never seen either of you guys in a relationship before so I have to admit this is pretty fun to watch” Charlie said with an impish grin.

Dean drug his eyes back to her and raised an eyebrow.  “Oh ya?  So what have you observed so far, oh wise one?”  Dean leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms.

“Well I haven’t really had time to make many observations yet, silly.  I’ve only been here a few hours.  Ask me that again in a few days time and I’ll be more than happy to give you a full report.”  Dean chuckled, knowing that was more than true.  “But what I can say is, when Rose smiles at you, Dean, she lights up like a Christmas tree.  And you are the happiest I’ve seen you in...maybe ever.”  She leaned forward and looked Dean in the eye.  “For the record I’d kill for a woman to make me as happy as you obviously make her.”

Dean smiled shyly and Charlie could have sworn he was blushing.  “Thanks, Charlie.”

"And also?  I really like her"  Charlie said with a grin and Dean found himself grinning back at her.  "I kind of want to be her new best friend."

"She really likes you too.  She already told me that."  Charlie's face lit up in delight.  "Wanna teach your new best friend to shoot?"

Charlie's mouth dropped open.  "She can't shoot?  Dean Winchester is dating someone who can't shoot a gun?"

"Or fight" he confirmed.  "But we're working on that."

"This is super odd but I'm kind of loving it too" Charlie said.  "You're like the perfect opposites."

Before Dean could respond Rose herself came walking over, pretty steadily considering she had a few shots of tequila in her.

“Hey guys, what are you all doing out here?” she asked.

Dean smiled up at her.  Charlie watched them and wondered what Dean would have said if she had told him that when he smiled at Rose he looked like a kid who had just found every present he’d ever wanted under his Christmas tree.

“Hey Baby” he said.  “We’re just talking.  What’s Daisy doing?”  He reached out and tugged Rose down so she was sitting on his lap, facing Charlie.

“Oh she got bored.  We were talking and she decided she wanted more to drink.  I told her she didn’t need more but she didn’t listen.”  She looked sadly at him.  “She never listens.  Stupid, silly blond girl.”

“Want me to go be the big ‘ol mean guy who won’t let her drink any more?” Dean asked.

“Mm, maybe later” Rose said, snuggling against his chest.  Tequila made her sleepy.  She hadn’t had enough to get her drunk, but enough to make her relaxed and drowsy.  “I’m comfy.”

Dean chuckled at her, finding her adorably cute like this.  He rubbed his hand up and down her back and caught Charlie smiling at them.  He smiled back.  As opposed to when Lily watched them and Dean felt like they were being studied in a lab, Charlie smiling at them made him just feel like she was genuinely happy for them.

Dean smiled down at Rose and was just about to suggest she go to bed when a loud voice from the library rang out, signaling that all hell was about to break loose.


	39. An Angel Who Never Got Wings

"You have to share!" Daisy said in a loud angry voice.  She was standing in front of Lily with her hands on her hips, anger coming off of her in waves.

Lily has turned around on Sam’s lap to face her youngest sister, the nearly empty bottle of tequila hanging loosely from her fingers.  She was staring at Daisy in confusion, obviously completely caught off guard by her sisters anger.  Daisy had wanted the rest of the tequila and Lily had told her no.  She hadn't expected this reaction.  "You’ve had enough, Days, you need to go to bed now.”

Anyone who knew Daisy could recognize the signs of an impending explosion.  Her shoulders were tense, her lips were drawn in a harsh, straight line and her green eyes were hard, flashing emeralds in her flushed face.

“You’re not mom, Lily.  You don’t get to tell me what to do.  You have to share!” she repeated.  The fact that repeating this phrase made her sound like a child fighting over a toy didn’t dawn on her.

Lily laughed, getting off of Sam’s lap and walking towards Daisy.  Now if Sam had been sober he would have had the presence of mind to hold Lily back, maybe whisper something in her ear to calm her down and diffuse the situation before it reached a boiling point.  But Sam unfortunately had had way too many shots of tequila and was almost as drunk as Lily was.  But where as Lily had anger coursing through her to wake her up, Sam didn't have that benefit.  So instead of helping he sat idly by, watching the two sisters close in on each other as his tequila soaked brain tried to grasp what was happening.

“I don’t have to do anything I don’t want to do, little girl" Lily said, walking right up to Daisy, getting right in her face.  She stared down at her youngest sister, daring her to argue back.  “And you sound like a bratty little kid.  You have to share!” Lily mimicked, causing Daisy’s temper to flare even hotter.

"Lil" Sam offered, in a slow, drunken voice.  "You should calm down."

"Stay out of it, Sam" Lily snapped.

“You’re just a loud bully, Lily.”  Daisy said, not backing down from her older sister at all.  “Fine, if you won’t let me have any of yours I’ll just go get my own drink” and she turned to go to the collection of bottles on the other table.  Why she hadn’t just done this in the first place can only be answered by a drunk nineteen year old brain.

“Oh the hell you will, you little brat.” Lily’s own temper was on full display now and she grabbed Daisy’s arm, pulling her back and stopping her in her tracks.

The trio in the maproom had been watching this all unfold in a bit of a stupor.  It had all happened so quickly that everyone was caught off guard by it.  Dean had realized at this point he needed to get in there before things got worse, while mentally cursing Sam for being so drunk that he wasn’t any help.  He lifted Rose off his lap (Charlie noticed that even in the midst of a crisis, it was only gentle hands on Rose, touching her like she was something precious.) and set her back down in his chair.  He was halfway to the library when the sound of breaking glass reached his ears.

Everyone was just watching in surprise, almost as much surprise as the two girls involved.  The best anyone could figure was that Lily had dropped the bottle of tequila when Daisy had pushed her and Lily had let go of her arm, thus winding up with Daisy on the floor, surrounded by broken glass and a small puddle of alcohol.

For a moment Daisy just stared at the broken glass surrounding her in shock.  Dean was almost to her side and was already planning his course of action (1. Get Daisy up and away from the glass.  2. Get her into her room and into bed 3. Kill Lily and Sam.) when Daisy burst into tears.  He was actually reaching out to take hold of her arm when with a quiet but distinctive sound, a trench coated figure appeared in front of him.  Dean stepped back in surprise, almost falling over at having to pull back so suddenly.

“Cas, what the hell?” Dean asked, shocked to see him so suddenly after him being MIA for so long.

Cas didn’t respond but bent down to Daisy, seeming to only be aware of her.  “Are you hurt?” he asked softly.

Daisy looked up at him, tears streaming down her face and sniffling pitifully.  She shook her head mutely, then burst into a fresh round of tears.  Cas swept Daisy gently up into his arms and stood, only then looking at the others in the room.

Lily had been staring in shock from the moment her sister hit the ground.  It had all happened so fast, from her sister pushing her, to her falling and the bottle going with her and then breaking and then an angel suddenly appearing by her side.  She felt movement behind her and realized Sam had stood up next to her, staring at Cas in shock as well.

Cas looked at Lily in confusion now, cocking his head.  “Why would you hurt your sister?” he said.  Though his words sounded innocuous there was something in his tone that put everyone on edge.  There was an implicit threat there.

Dean saw Sam’s back stiffen and saw him start to step forward, not liking Cas’ tone with Lily.  Before Sam could become the drunk guy that takes a swing at an angel Dean got in between them.

“Cas, man, she didn’t” Dean said.  “Daisy fell.  They’ve all had a bit too much to drink.”

Cas looked at Dean, seeming to take in what he said and nodding.  “I’ll take care of her” he said, and without another word he disappeared with Daisy still in his arms.

Everyone was quite for a few seconds and then utter pandemonium broke out as everyone started talking at once.

“Where did he take Daisy?” Lily demanded of Dean, as if he somehow knew.

Dean shrugged, having no idea what Cas was up to.  Sam was patting Lily’s back, trying to calm her down and Charlie and Rose were watching all of this from the maproom, silently amazed at what had gone on.

“Are things always this exciting for you guys?” Charlie asked Rose.

Rose sighed and nodded.  “Lately, ya.”

Dean had pulled out his phone and was frantically texting Cas.  After a minute he got some sort of reply because he nodded and put his phone back in his pocket.  “Cas will be back in a few minutes.  He said he'll explain.”

“I can’t believe he just swept in here and grabbed her” Lily said.  She had dropped into a chair at the table, looking shaken and confused and Sam stood behind her, mutely rubbing her back.

Charlie disappeared and came back a second later with a broom, dustpan and mop to clean the mess up, handing them to Dean when he reached out a hand.  Dean quickly took care of the mess while they all waited for Cas to come back.

Thirty long minutes later, during which they had to hear repeatedly from Lily that they shouldn’t have let Cas take Daisy (Though how they could have stopped him no one was really sure.), Cas reappeared with as little fanfare as he had appeared before.  His eyes swept the room, settling on Rose for a second, his eyes going up and down and seeming to soak her in.  Rose leaned over and explained to Charlie “I have a multi-colored pulsing aura he finds fascinating.”  Charlie nodded, wide eyed at this interesting explanation. Finally Cas pulled his eyes from Rose and settled on Dean.

“Daisy wished to be with her mother” he said.  “I have left her in her care and she will be contacting her eldest daughter tomorrow.” He went as if to leave and Dean grabbed his arm.

“Hey, we need to talk” Dean said.

Cas looked at him, slowly nodding his head.  In a low voice he said “Not in the same room as the females though” and walked towards the dining room.  Giving Rose a shrug Dean followed him out.

“Oh, Lily’s gonna be in trouble with our mom” Rose said to Charlie conspiratorially.  This realization seemed to have hit Lily too as she had turned a light shade of green.  Or maybe that was all the tequila.  Either way, Sam took Lily’s hand and led her towards their room, giving Rose and Charlie a little wave as they left.

* * *

In the dining room Dean found Cas standing by the dining table, looking as calm and placid as ever.

“Cas, where the hell have you been?  We’ve been trying to get in touch with you for days now” Dean growled.

“I have responded to your messages” Cas said.  “You received my responses I’m sure.”

“You’ve been so fucking busy you couldn’t stop by once but Daisy slips and you’re here in a flash.  How’s that work?”

Cas looked at Dean evenly.  “Daisy was in turmoil.  She needed me.  You just wished to ask me questions that I can’t yet answer.”

Dean raised an eyebrow.  “Can’t _yet_?  Meaning you can at some point, just not now?”

Cas nodded.  “Correct.”

“Any fucking idea when that might be?” Dean asked, narrowing his eyes.

“I can’t say for sure but we’ll know it when the time comes” Cas assured Dean.  “Until then, I must go.”  And without another word Cas was gone, leaving Dean in the dining room cursing at the instability of angels.

* * *

Charlie and Rose were still sitting in the maproom, chatting about the events of the night.

“So, are you sorry you came yet?” Rose asked with a smile.

Charlie chuckled.  “Na, this has been an interesting evening.  I mean we had homemade lasagna, I got to watch your sister get drunk and make out with Sam and then Cas popped in.”  Charlie shrugged.  “That’s a full evening in my book.”

Rose grinned at her, liking Charlie’s attitude.  “Well hey, hang out a bit longer and you’re sure to get way more of Sam and Lily making out.  They seem to like to do that in public places.”

“What about you and Dean?” Charlie asked with a sly grin.

“Oh no, we're not much on audience participation" Rose said with a grin of her own and Charlie laughed.

“So do you really think you can get into those websites?” Rose asked, turning serious.  It was a testament to how insane the past little while had been that tonight didn’t even really register as a big deal in Rose’s book.

“Yep, it may take me a little bit, but I haven’t found anything yet I couldn’t crack.

“That’s so cool” Rose said, admiringly.

Dean came back into the room then, looking agitated. He stopped with a scowl when he found only Charlie and Rose in the room.  "Where'd Sam and Lily go?"

"Bed" Rose said.  "What's wrong?"

"My brother is an idiot and Cas is a pain in the ass" Dean said.

“Hey at least you don’t have two sisters who get into fights that require angels to break them up” Rose pointed out, earning a smirk from Dean.

"And on the upside" Charlie said "You have the two most amazing redheads ever in your life."  She grinned at Rose who grinned back at her and they in turn grinned in unison at Dean.

Dean couldn't help but laugh.  "Yes, that makes up for the rest of the crazies for sure.”

“Tequila makes me sleepy” Rose said, stifling a yawn and curling her legs up so she was curled up in her chair.  Dean smiled.  She reminded him of Sookie when she curled up like that.

“Ya, I think it’s time to get you to bed, Rosie, before you fall asleep out here.”  He walked over to Rose and pulled her gently from the chair.  She smiled up at him taking his hand and letting him lead her towards the hallway.  “You calling it a night, Charlie?”

“Ya, I’m tired from the drive” she said, standing and stretching and then following them down the hallway.  They said good night at Rose’s door and left Charlie to head to her own room.

They were greeted with happy meows from Sookie and Rose went to feed her while Dean went back to turn off the lights and get ready for bed.  Rose took the chance to get dressed for bed as well, slipping into a pink nightshirt that came to just above her knees.  She would have loved to soak in a bath but was sure she would fall asleep so instead she slipped into bed and waited for Dean to come back in.  He returned a few minutes later, to find Rose barely keeping her eyes open.

Road smiled up at him with a soft, sleepy smile.  She patted the spot next to her.  "Come to bed, Dean.  I miss you."

He chuckled, turned the lights off and slid in bed next to her, pulling her into his arms.  From the slice of light peaking out through the open bathroom door he could just make out Rose’s face.  She was staring up at him, her eyes big and serious.  She reached a hand up and traced his face, her touch soft and light on his skin.  She cupped his face and he closed his eyes and leaned into her hand, soaking up the feel of her touch.  Sometimes when Rose touched him it felt like more than just a physical connection.  It felt like her soul was speaking to his and if anything could make Dean believe in soulmates it was this feeling.  Her thumb lightly stroked his lips and he kissed it softly, his lips grazing the soft flesh.  She reached up and kissed him softly, her lips barely touching his.  When she spoke her lips were so close to his he could feel her breath and it sent shivers down his spine.

"Thank you"

Dean slowly opened his eyes.  "For what?" He couldn't think of what she'd be thanking him for.

"For making me happy.  Despite the utter, abject chaos of my life, you make me happy."  The smile she gave Dean made him feel like he had won the most treasured prize a person could win.  "No one else could do that.  So thank you."

Then she snuggled up against him, tucked her head under his chin and with a softly murmured "Good Night" went to sleep in his arms.

Dean stayed awake much longer wondering how one person could both settle and disarm him so much.

* * *

Lily and Sam were no shows the next morning, to absolutely no one’s surprise.  Dean figured they wouldn't see them till well after noon.  After a quick breakfast Dean, Rose and Charlie all headed for the library.  Dean wanted to make sure Charlie had everything she needed before he dragged Rose down to the training room.  (Dragged being the operative word because she was less than keen to get back to training.)  Charlie had moved all her things back into the library before breakfast and had them spread out on one of the tables.  Whatever it was she had tried last night hadn’t worked so she was moving onto the next option.  She didn’t seemed put off by this fact at all though, saying that whoever had encrypted and encoded these sites had mad skills.  She sounded quite impressed.  Rose wasn’t sure that was a good thing, that whoever had put these sites up was so good, but then again it did mean that not just anyone could stumble across and read them.  So that was an upside.

Sam had sent Charlie a lot of files that covered everything they had found as well as his own notes concerning the prophecy.  Dean suggested she read them over and keep track of any questions she had and they would deal with them when they came back upstairs.  Charlie gave them both a little salute and got to reading.

“Come on, Rosie” Dean said, taking her by the hand and leading a less than happy Rose towards the stairs.

“But Dean…maybe I should stay and help,” Charlie heard Rose argue.

“Good try, sweetheart, but no.  Come on.  And no pulling back on your punches today either.  You’re not going to hurt me.  If you’re worried about hurting every single person you go to hit.."

Dean’s lecturing voice trailed off and with a contented smile on her face Charlie turned back to her reading.

* * *

A few hours later Dean and Rose came back upstairs.  Rose headed straight for her room to change and Dean dropped into a chair in the library.

“How’d the training go?” Charlie asked cheerfully, getting a dark look from Dean.  She frowned sympathetically. “That bad?”

“Well if she wasn’t so damn worried about hurting me all the time she’d actually be OK.  She might even be pretty good."

"You know most guys think it's a good thing when their girlfriends don't want to hurt them" Charlie commented with a grin.

"Ya well, in case you hadn't noticed, I'm not most guys" Dean shot back, returning her grin.

“What if you had her train with Sam” Charlie suggested and Dean nodded thoughtfully.  They could always try that, not with the shooting of course, but maybe with the hand to hand.

“So you have questions?” Dean asked and Charlie nodded.

“Not too many.  Sam took really good notes but I have a few and something’s I just want to clarify.” She pulled a notepad she’d jotted questions down on towards her.  “So Rose’s dad was from the same town in Ireland as the one nun, right?  The one who had the same last name as the girls?  And that’s where the church was that both nuns and the priest were at as well?" Dean nodded.  “Interesting.  He was a hunter too?”  Again Dean nodded.  “What about their mom?”

Dean blinked, not expecting that question for some reason.  “What about Erin?”

“Is she a hunter?”

“No, she’s well, she dabbles with potions and shit but she’s not a witch.  She researches stuff for other hunters, used to do that for Rose’s dad and my dad as well occasionally.”

“But she came from a family of hunters” Rose said, causing Dean to jump.  He hadn’t realized she had come back already.  He turned and she was standing in the doorway dressed in a cute scoop necked blue dress she knew he liked.  He looked her up and down, giving her an approving wink when his eyes met hers.  Rose blushed and came forward, standing behind him.  Charlie caught the interaction and chuckled inwardly.  He had it so bad.

Rose continued.  “She was raised by two hunters.  That’s how she knew Dean’s mom.”

Charlie looked up in surprise.  “She knew your mom?” she asked, looking at Dean.

“Ya, that’s why we wound up at Rosie’s house that night.”  Dean didn’t need to clarify what night he was talking about.  Without even thinking about it Rose slipped her hand to Dean’s back, rubbing her hand slowly up and down.  To anyone else it looked like she was just rubbing his back but Dean knew what it really was: comfort.  He soaked it up for a few minutes before standing.

“I’m going to go make lunch.  Rose should be able to answer any more questions you have” and Dean slipped out of the library.

“I’ll be right back” Rose said, following Dean out quickly.  She found Dean in the dining room, leaning against the wall, his head thrown back and eyes closed, the pain on his face like a knife to her heart.  She didn’t say anything, knowing words wouldn’t help, just slipped her arms around his waist and hugged him hard. Dean’s eyes flew open, surprised Rose had followed him, though honestly, he shouldn't have been.  She'd been there from the beginning and had firsthand knowledge of his pain.  He looked down at the top of her head, considering lying and telling her he was OK for a second, but then he realized there was no need.  She wasn’t asking anything of him, wasn't even talking, wasn’t telling him it was OK or any of the other myriad of useless phrases people had spewed at him over the years when confronted with the loss of his mother.  She was just holding him, offering comfort in the way she knew Dean would accept it best.  Slowly he allowed himself to put his arms around her as well, to accept the comfort and hugged her to him, burying his face in her hair.  They stayed like that for several minutes, neither saying anything, just holding each other tightly.  Finally Dean pulled back and looked at Rose.  “Thanks, Baby” he said and Rose gave him her sweetest smile, the one that made Dean feel like he was being enveloped in the softest blanket imaginable.  “Anytime, Sweetie.”  Rose leaned up and kissed him gently and with a squeeze to one of his hands she went back to the library.  Dean watched her go and then with a small smile he headed to the kitchen to start lunch.

Rose sat back down in the chair across from Charlie and smiled at her.  Charlie looked guilty, like she had purposely brought up something painful and Rose immediately eased her mind, saying “Don’t, you didn’t know” and Charlie gave her a grateful smile.

Rose cleared her throat and went back to explaining.  “My mom and Dean’s mom were childhood best friends.  They both grew up in families of hunters and neither one wanted to become one or raise their own families in that lifestyle.  My mom wound up marrying a hunter anyway but she never hunted herself once she left home.  They stayed in touch even though my mom moved away but they didn’t see each other that often.”  She smiled softly.  “I actually met her once, at her baby shower when she was pregnant with Sam.  Apparently Lily had acted up so she didn’t get to go but my mom took me.”  She shrugged.  “I don’t really remember it much except I do have a fuzzy memory of a pretty blond lady giving me a cookie.”  Rose shook her head, trying to get her head back on the actual topic.  “Anyway, yes both my parents came from families of hunters.”  She frowned.  “Is that important?”

“Well from looking at Sam’s notes it seems like it makes sense.  I mean, Family of the Sword seems like an even bigger deal if it’s on both sides, right?”  Rose nodded.  “Your mom, is she Irish as well?”

“She’s Irish but her family’s been in America several generations.  I’m not sure how many though.  I know my grandparents were born in the U.S.”  Rose frowned.  “Lily might know.  Or we can ask my mom once she’s…fixed.  Did the boys tell you about the spell?”

Charlie nodded, looking at Rose sympathetically.  “Ya, it was in Sam’s notes.  Sorry, that has to suck.”

Just then a noise caused both girls to look up to find Sam standing in the doorway.  He looked a bit worse for the wear but at least he was standing and seemed conscious.

“Hey guys” he said hoarsely, stumbling to the table.

Both Charlie and Rose smiled sympathetically at him.

“Hey” Rose said.  “Where’s Lily?”

“Still asleep.”  Sam winced.  “Your mom called early this morning and screamed at her for what seemed like forever.”  He frowned.  “I think Lily might have fallen back asleep with the phone under her pillow and your mom still yelling.”  He ran a hand through his hair.  “Or maybe that was a nightmare.”

“Do you want some coffee?” Rose asked and Sam nodded gratefully.  Rose left and came back a minute later, placing a steaming cup of black coffee in front of him.

“Thanks Rosie” Sam said, inhaling the scent.  “You’re an angel.”

“It has been said” Rose said with a laugh.

* * *

After lunch Dean and Rose headed for the shooting range, leaving Sam and Charlie to work on research and getting into the websites.

Rose was fairly pleased that a day off hadn’t made her forget everything she’d learned.  She was almost afraid to admit that she was getting a teensy, tiny bit better.  Bobby had been right; Dean was a good teacher and as long as she could not over think and not panic and not worry about who she might hurt, she could at least make it somewhere on the target more times than not now.  She glanced up at Dean, expecting to get some confirmation that she was doing well, maybe that sexy little smile he gave her that made her glow.  Instead she looked up to find him frowning.

Dean was staring at the target, concentrating on where the majority of Rose’s bullets had landed, trying to decide if it was her stance that was throwing her aim off or her arm position.  He was surprisingly pleased with how she was progressing, much better than he had hoped, considering where she had started.  He actually had no idea he was frowning and when he looked down at Rose to suggest a shift in her stance he was surprised to see the concerned look on her face, which she quickly tried to cover with a smile.

“Hey what’s wrong” he asked, grabbing her chin and forcing her to look at him, when she tried to turn her head away.  He was startled by the troubled look in her eyes.  He immediately took the gun from her hands and laid it on the counter, pulling her into his arms.  “Baby, what is it?”

“Am I not doing better?” Rose asked, in a small voice.

“What?” Dean was shocked.  “Of course you are.  You’re doing a lot better.”

“But you were frowning, you looked upset with me.”  Rose’s mind was yelling at her to shut up.  She hated the weakness and neediness she heard in her voice.

“Oh no, Sweetheart, I wasn’t upset.” Dean hugged her tightly.  “I was trying to figure out why you’re going to the right so much.  I think we just need to adjust your stance, that’s all.  I’m not upset with you at all.  In fact” Dean grasped her chin and tipped her head back to meet her eyes. “I am very, very proud at how quickly you’ve improved.  You’ve done really well.”

“Really?” Rose asked softly and she smiled when Dean nodded his head at her.

“Really” he said emphatically.  “Now, let’s look at your stance again.  I think if move your one leg…”

* * *

An hour later Dean was in the kitchen, trying to decide on what to make for dinner.  He’d insisted Rose go soak in a hot bath and let him handle dinner.  That had definitely got him a big, happy smile.

He was staring at what they had in the pantry when Lily staggered in and sat at the counter, the first sighting of her that day.

“She’s alive” Dean exclaimed and laughed when Lily flipped him off.  “Not loving tequila today, huh, Lil?”

Lily groaned and buried her head in her hands.  “I’m never drinking again” she declared and Dean wondered if he could get that in writing.  Maybe if he could get her to make a bet he could cash in.  Taking sympathy on her he poured her a cup of coffee and slid it in front of her.

“Bless you” she breathed, inhaling the coffee.  “Where is everybody?” she asked.

Dean decided tonight was a burger night.  He started pulling out the ingredients he’d need and then answered Lily.  “Rose is taking a bath and Sam and Charlie are in the library.”  He gave Lily an evil smirk.  “And you know where Daisy is of course.”

Lily groaned again.  “Don’t remind me.  Did you know that being the oldest is a sacred, blessed privilege?”  Dean laughed and shook his head.  “Oh yes, that’s what my mother informed me this morning on the phone, as she berated me about how upset my precious, darling baby sister was.”  She snorted.  “Precious, my ass.  I’ll show her how precious she is when I knock her flat on her ass the next time I see her.”  Dean winced, listening to Lily continue to rant, deciding he did not want to be there for that reunion.  “She‘s a spoiled fucking brat.  She’s always done this, every since she was tiny.  She pulls some kind of stupid stunt and then blames everyone else for it.  And mom falls for it every time because she’s the baby.”  Dean remembered how Daisy had thrown Sam under the bus and had to bite his tongue to keep from saying that it wasn’t just their mom who fell for it. “You’d think she was nine instead of nineteen.”

Dean mixed ground meat with a combination of spices while Lily finally calmed down enough to drink her coffee.  Once he decided she had wound down enough to talk he looked up and asked "So can I ask you a question about the sister you do like?”

“Shoot” Lily said.

Dean explained about Rose suddenly seeming to be terrified of him being upset with her.  He edited out any intimate details but he really wanted Lily’s take on this, feeling like he needed someone else who knew her well to help him here.  Was he really screwing things up this badly?

Lily sighed and looked out the kitchen door, making sure Rose was nowhere near.

“You know how close my dad and Rose were, right?” Dean nodded.  “Well I guess, because she and my mom were never close she totally focused on him.  From the time she was little Rose would do anything to please my dad.”  She took another sip of coffee.  “You think it’s a coincidence that she understands Irish?  Fat chance.  My dad did so Rose had to do it too.  And heaven help us if she thought he was upset with her.  We are talking meltdowns of epic proportions.”

Dean was looking at Daisy, realization slowly dawning on him.  “So you’re saying since I’m the um, guy in her life now-“

Daisy nodded.  “Yep, you get the coveted position of honor.  Congratulations, Dean you’re dating a tried and true Daddy’s girl.”

“But she had no problem telling me she thought I was acting like an idiot after you guys drug us into Daisy’s dream" Dean said with a frown.

“That’s because you _were_ acting like an idiot” Lily said dryly, earning a glare from Dean.  “Look, she’s not a door mat.  If you’re a jerk she’ll tell you.”  Lily narrowed her eyes.  “And so will I.  This isn’t some pass to get away with shit.  But if she thinks _she’s_ screwed up, if she’s upset you, it really bothers her.”

Dean mulled this over for a few minutes, while he was shaping the meat mixture into patties.  Then he asked very casually “So is this something you’ve seen her do before, with other guys she's dated?"  He flicked his eyes up to Lily then quickly back down to his hands.

Lily grinned into her coffee cup.  If she wanted an answer about how serious Dean was about her sister that question alone answered it.

“Nope” Lily said soundly.  “Only with my dad and you.”  And she grinned again, watching Dean try to hide his proud smile.  He was quite for a few minutes again then asked:

“So what’s the deal with you watching me and Rose like we’re some celebrity couple and you’re the paparazzi?”

Lily had it on the tip of her tongue to tell Dean she was trying to figure out why he hadn't fucked her sister yet and when exactly he planned on doing it but some ounce of self preservation stopped her.  Something told her that question wouldn't be received well.  So instead she just shrugged and said "You guys aren’t exactly sharers you know.  You don’t tell Sam anything, Rose barely tells me anything.  I’m curious.  And concerned.”

So Rose wasn't telling Lily anything.  That was interesting.  Dean looked at Lily with a disbelieving look on his face.  “You’re concerned?  What about you and my little brother?  Since when are you two serious?”

Lily shrugged.  “Since we are.”

“Hunters aren’t known for domestic life, you know” Dean said, heating a pan on the stove.

“First off, my parents made it work.  And secondly, I think you and Rose have the domestic thing covered” she said, motioning to the stove. 

Dean said nothing, just kept his eyes on the stove.  Lily cleared her throat and Dean threw her an irritated look. “What?”

“So what about you and Rose?”

“Dear God, you don’t give up do you?” Dean said, throwing his hands up.  Lily just grinned.  Unyielding, that was her, just living up to her prophecy.  “Did it ever occur to you that it’s none of your damn business?”

“Nope.  She’s my little sister.  Of course it’s my business.”

“What’s your business?” Rose asked, coming into the kitchen, looking fresh and clean, her hair in two braids and wearing black jeans and a t-shirt that advertised The Sanderson Witch Museum.  Dean frowned at that, trying to figure out why that sounded so familiar.

“Oh thank God” Dean muttered.  “Deal with your sister, please.  Preferably with force.”

Rose looked at Lily questioningly and she just shrugged.  “Just seeing what Dean had to say about you two.  You know, since you wouldn’t really tell me anything.”

“Oh Lily, come on” Rose said, shaking her head at her sister.

“What?”  I’m your sister.  I have a right to know what’s going on” Lily protested.

“No,” Rose said firmly.  “You actually don’t.”

Lily pouted at her.  “You’re awfully mean to me, Rosie.  And after I got yelled at by mom too.”  Dean rolled his eyes.

“You got drunk and got into a fight with Daisy.  What did you think was going to happen, she was gonna congratulate you?”  Dean grinned.  He loved the sassy side of Rose just as much as he loved the sweet side.  She was the perfect combination.  Turning her back on her sister Rose came over to Dean at the stove.  “Oh hamburgers, yum.  Need any help?”

“Well if you want to chop up some onions and tomatoes and get some lettuce out…”

Lily rolled her eyes and stood up.  She filled her coffee cup and left, muttering that she didn’t feel like watching The Cooking channel.

As soon as Lily left Rose hugged Dean from behind. “Sorry she was bothering you” she murmured against his back.

“Don’t worry about it.  You might want to steer clear of Sammy on your own though.  She’s probably gonna try to get him to get info from you too.”

“God, I suddenly have such sympathy for Princess Kate” Rose muttered and Dean had to laugh.  He turned around and gave her a quick kiss then spun her around and smacked her butt.  “Now, get to chopping.  You’re slacking on your cooking assistant duties."

“Yes chef” Rose, said with a little salute and Dean turned back to the stove with a grin.

Glancing at Rose out of the corner of his eye, Dean finished the burger he was cooking on the stove and then slipped it in the oven to keep warm.  Wiping his hands off he came up behind Rose and wrapped his arms around her waist.

She smiled.  "Oh who’s distracting me from my cooking duties now?"

"Mmm, you shouldn't look so cute then" Dean murmured, kissing the back of her neck.  He tugged on one of her braids.  "I like these."

Rose gasped lightly and dropped the knife she had been using to chop tomatoes with.  "You're going to get me in trouble with the chef" she said, sending him a flirty grin over her shoulder.

Dean chuckled and ran his hands down her waist to grasp her hips and pull her back against him.  “Oh well trouble and you go together, don’t they?  In fact” Dean said, moving his lips close to her ear “I know someone who’s still owed a spanking don’t I?”  Rose gave him an innocent look and Dean laughed again.  “You thought I forgot, didn’t you?" Rose nodded and Dean grinned.  "Nope, I’ve just waiting for the right moment.  In fact” Dean walked to the kitchen doorway quickly, looking out to make sure no one was around then stalked back towards Rose with a wicked, predatory grin on his face “Why don’t we have a little preview right now?”

He snagged Rose around the waist and pulled her towards one of the stools at the counter.  “Knees on there and lean over the counter” he commanded and she obeyed quickly.  He patted her bottom and turned to rifle through one of the drawers.  “Good girl, now arch your back. I want a nice target.”  Rose did as he asked then glanced over her shoulder and her eyes widened when she saw Dean triumphantly pulling an old wooden spoon from the drawer.  Dean met her eyes and was by her side in an instant, stroking her back and saying to her softly “If this is too much, Rosie you tell me and it stops, OK?”

Rose nodded her head and let Dean know with her smile that she was OK.  He leaned down and kissed her softly.  “We’re good?” he asked softly, needing to make sure and Rose nodded again causing Dean to grin wickedly.

“Good, because I have to tell you,” he drew a hand over her perfectly raised bottom, “This bottom is just begging to be spanked.”  Rose instinctively pushed her bottom back into Dean’s hand and he smiled.  And so was this girl he thought with a smirk.  “I’d hate to disappoint.”  He gave her bottom a few little pats with his hand and then drew back.

“Ready Princess?  This is going to be quick.  Don’t want Sammy or anyone else coming in and us having to explain this.”  He rolled his eyes.  “They all obsess over us enough as it is.  Just want to make sure you know I haven’t forgotten.”  He squeezed one of her bottom cheeks then leaned down towards her before saying “We’ll get to the real, much longer spanking later” and he winked before straightening and tapping her with the spoon.  “Ready Baby?”

“Yes Sir” and she again looked surprised at her own words.  Dean just smiled, not surprised by her response at all this time and pulling the spoon back he landed it with a hearty smack on her denim clad bottom.  Rose let out a little yelp and Dean quickly followed that smack up with five more stinging ones to various portions of her bottom.  Then quick as could be, he had her back on her feet in front of him, the spoon was in the sink and Dean’s hands were rubbing her bottom.

Rose looked up at Dean, her face flushed, her eyes big and her breathing quick and slightly ragged.  Dean grinned down at her, pulled her tightly against him and kissed her.  It was a possessive, passionate kiss that had Rose grasping at Dean’s shoulders and pushing herself against him, desperate to somehow get closer to him.  When they finally drug their lips apart they were both breathing heavily.

“Damn” Dean muttered, resting his forehead against hers.  “Think we could just forget dinner?  No one would notice if we disappeared for an hour.  Or two.  Right?”

Rose laughed.  “I wish.”  Her hands drifted back to her bottom and rubbed softly.  “Dang that thing stings” she said with a small pout.

Dean chuckled and with a quick kiss to her lips and a squeeze to her bottom, Dean turned back to the stove.  “Back to chopping, Princess.  Don’t want the chef to catch you slacking off.  I here’s he’s not above smacking people with a spoon.”  He threw her a wink over his shoulder and Rose laughed before picking her knife up again. 

* * *

Everyone feasted on the burgers at dinner and sat back content and full after.

“I’m never making another hamburger” Rose declared.  “Seriously, Dean that was quite possibly the best burger I’ve ever eaten.”  Dean grinned happily, loving that Rose, who was an amazing cook liked it so much.

“So any luck with the websites?” Dean asked Charlie and she shook her head.

“Whoever did these websites really knew what they were doing.  This could take me a few days.”  She smiled then.  “I did figure out the websites were created in Ireland sometime in the last 20 years.”

Sam nodded, pulling out his ever present notebook and jotting that down.  Lily rolled her eyes at him.

“He’s like my own personal Rupert Giles” she muttered.

“Without the glasses and the English accent” Charlie said and Lily looked at her in surprise and then grinned.  Rose smiled, seeing that.

"He'd look darling in tweed though" Lily offered.  Looking back and forth between them Sam frowned.

"My God, we're outnumbered" he said, looking at Dean in alarm and everyone laughed.

After Sam and Lily cleared the table they joined the other three in the living room.  The TV in here was older and smaller than the one in Sam's room (Dean put it on his mental list of things that they needed to update.) but with Charlie here it made it easier for them to all watch TV together.  Dean had already stretched out, laying his head back in Rose's lap.  When she started playing with his hair he all but purred.  Charlie had turned the TV on and found a Buffy marathon, much to Rose's delight, then kicked back on one of the couches herself and relaxed.  When Sam and Lily joined them Sam stretched out on the third couch and Lily stretched out on his lap, curling into him, looking sleepy again already.

As Dean lay there with his head on Rose's lap, her fingers threading through his hair, he smiled, listening to her laugh with Charlie and Lily.  He glanced at his brother, and found him smiling contentedly at Lily and for this moment in time Dean was happy.  If living life as a hunter had taught him one thing it was that happiness was fleeting.  You took it where you could get it and when you got it you appreciated it.  In this moment Dean was well and truly thankful for the happiness flowing over and around him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You get extra cool points in my book if you know what The Sanderson Witch Museum is from. ;)


	40. And We're Makin' Plans

Rose woke the next morning snuggled up against Dean.  He had his face buried in her hair and one arm under his head and the other wrapped firmly around her waist.  She stretched and then snuggled up against his warm body.  She never had to worry about being cold when she was sharing a bed with Dean.  He was like a human heater.  She’d had quickly traded her pajamas for long t-shirts (This one was pink with a huge R made up of Roses on the front, another Christmas present from Lily.) or nightshirts once they began sharing a bed, because sleeping in anything else with Dean was just too warm.  Dean’s steady, deep breathing in her ear let her know he was still asleep so she stuck one arm out and drug her phone off the bedside table.

She had a text from Lily asking her if they were awake yet.  Duh, Rose thought.  How could I answer if I wasn't awake?

_I am but Dean's still sleeping.  What's up?_

_No biggie. It'll wait._

Rose didn’t question Lily, figuring whatever it was it would still be there when they were both up.  Rose scrolled through her phone, checking her friend’s latest posts on Facebook.  Chastity had sent her the usual amusing message, along with a picture of a half naked hunk, his arms bound behind him in leather cuffs, while he kneeled at a woman's feet.  This was apparently someone she had modeling for a new ad that she found “luscious” (her word) and she just had to share.

"Do all your friends send you pictures like that?" A deep voice asked by her ear and Rose looked over her shoulder to find Dean staring at her phone.

"Morning" Rose said, smiling at him.  "And in answer to your question, no.  Most of my friends send me pictures of their babies or the latest shoes they're lusting after.  Chastity is the exception."

Dean smirked.  "The person who sent you that picture is named Chastity?" Rose nodded and Dean laughed.  "Now that's what I call irony."

Rose just smiled and after reading the rest of Chastity's message she looked up to find Dean watching her face.  "What?"

"Do I want to know _why_ she sent you that picture?" He asked, looking curious.

"Honestly?  Probably not."  Clicking her phone off Rose wiggled out from under Dean’s arm and headed for the bathroom.  She came back out a few minutes later to find Dean sitting up in bed, blankets pushed down to the end of the bed, his legs stretched out in front of him and crossed at the ankles and his arms crossed over his chest.  He was giving her a look that Rose had come to think of as his stern sexy look.  It was a look that left no room for argument and that literally made her feel weak in the knees.  She stood by the bathroom door, biting her lip and feeling her heart beating overtime in her chest.  He caught her eye with his and crooked a finger at her, beckoning her to him.  For a second she literally could not get her legs to move, she was such a combination of lust and nerves that she was frozen to the spot.  Then Dean quirked an eyebrow at her and said in a low voice “Now, Rosie” and she snapped out of her daze.  Her legs carried her over to his side of the bed and before she could climb up he said “Stop.”  Her eyes flew to his, her confusion clear and he gave her a tiny smirk.  "Panties off.”  Rose felt her whole body jerk, in surprise or lust she wasn’t sure.  “Dean?” she said questioningly, glancing up at him.  “You heard me, Princess.  It’s time for your spanking but those need to come off first.”  Rose felt her breath hitch in her chest and Dean caught her eye.  “Now be a good girl and do it, Rosie.”  She took a deep breath and hooked her fingers in the waistband of her panties and pulled them off in one quick motion.  Rose looked up to find him smiling at her.  “Good Girl” he said and Rose blushed, unable to stop the smile that formed on her face.  Dean reached his hand out to her.  “Now come here, Baby.”  Putting her hand into his, Dean pulled Rose down onto her knees on the bed.  He kissed her softly, then with a little grin he tugged her hand, causing her to tumble across his lap.  Rose let out a little squeak of surprise and Dean chuckled.  He settled her across his knees, arranging her how he wanted her, putting her bottom in the perfect position and then slowly started stroking it.  Her t-shirt was long enough that it covered her bottom and he left it there for now.

“So Sweetheart, do you remember what you did to earn yourself a spanking?”

“I called you a pretty boy” Rose said with a frown.  “I still don’t understand why that’s a bad thing.”

“Well first off” Dean’s fingers stroked down to her thigh, then stroked back up.  He let one finger trail between her thighs, teasing her, and he smiled when he saw her legs instantly part for him. She was just so responsive.  "I’m a guy.  Guys aren’t pretty.  We can be hot, we can be handsome, we can be sexy, but we’re not pretty.”

“I disagree” Rose said stubbornly.  She drew her breath in sharply when his hand swept her t-shirt up her back, baring her bottom to his eyes.

“Mmmm, not in the best position to do that, now are you, Rosie?” With no more fanfare he brought his hand down on her upraised bottom, drawing a loud gasp from Rose.  Immediately color bloomed on her pale skin as Dean followed that swat up with several more in quick succession.  Dean definitely enjoyed being able to see the effect the spanking was having on her skin this time, her bottom quickly changing to a light pink.  She had her face resting on her arms, turned in a direction so he could see all the reactions his spanks were drawing from her.  A gasp here, a worry of her lips there, a little whimper at a sharper smack, she reacted to everything.  A sudden idea formed in Dean’s head and it was too delicious for him not to do it.

“Rosie” he said, smoothing his hand over her now pink bottom. “Rosie, I need you to do something for me.”

Her eyes slowly fluttered open and she looked at him questioningly.  “You’ve been practicing with your telekinesis, right?”  Rose had mentioned to him the other day that she’d been practicing whenever she had a moment, wanting to have total control of it. 

“Yes” she said softly, her confusion at this topic change showing in her eyes.

“Good, well I want you to get something for me.”  His hand stroked her bottom, noticing where the pink color wasn’t as deep, where it was a bit darker, noting where he needed to focus the spanking.  Dean was nothing if not thorough.  “Get your hairbrush, Rosie.  Without getting up, bring it to me.”

Dean could see the second she understood his meaning.  Her eyes became as big as saucers, her face flushed an even deeper pink than it already was and he felt her entire body shiver.  “Be a good girl, Rosie” He said softly, stroking her bottom the whole time.  "Do what you’re told."

Rose’s mind was in overdrive.  That he was asking her to do that, to bring her brush over to the bed, did that mean what she thought it meant?  Was he going to use that on her?  Did she want him to?  And oh God, could she control it enough so it didn’t go flying?  It wasn’t like she was calm right now.

Dean saw her close her eyes and take a breath and then the next thing he knew the brush was smoothly landing next to him on the bed.  She opened her eyes, watching his face and he smiled at her.  “Good girl, Baby, you did a great job” and she all but glowed at his words.  Picking up the brush he put it so it was directly in her line of sight, on her pillow and he saw her eyes widen again at the sight of it.

“Now, where were we” he said, focusing back on her bottom and once again bringing his hand down sharply.  “Oh I know, I was going to get to the other part of the cute term you used for me, the part that really bothers me."  An especially hard smack landed on the lower part of her bottom followed by one word “Boy.”

“Rosie” Dean said, covering her bottom with sharp, stinging little smacks, “Do these hands feel like the hands of a boy?”  Rose was gasping and whimpering now.  He was laying on these swats so quickly and the sting was really building.  “I’m pretty sure it’s not a boy who has you held over his lap.” Dean landed an especially sharp volley of smacks, causing the lighter shade of pink to quickly turn to a dark one that was bordering on red.  Rose was whimpering now and grinding against his leg and Dean couldn’t keep the proud grin from his face.  His hand moved down from her bottom to slip between her legs, finding her absolutely drenched.  “It's not a boy who's got you this wet, Sweetheart."  His fingers dipped into her folds quickly, drawing a groan from her lips.  "The word you’re looking for, Baby” he stroked her lightly, teasingly, listening to her moan at his touch. “It definitely isn’t boy.  What’s the word you’re looking for sweetheart?”

Rose writhed desperately over Dean’s knee, crazy with the need for release.  Her bottom was on fire, her whole body was on fire, she desperately needed him to touch her and he was asking her questions?!  She wasn’t sure she could tell him her name right now; much less what he was asking her.  “I don’t, what, was, what did you say?” she stuttered, trying to push herself back onto Dean’s fingers.

Dean chuckled darkly and quickly drew his fingers away.  “Uh uh.  That’s not going to happen till you answer the question correctly.”  He drew his hand back to her bottom.  “I guess I didn’t spank you long enough, Rosie.”  Her eyes flew open at this statement and he gave her an evil wink and then he started in on her bottom again, peppering her bottom with harder smacks that stung her already tender bottom.  Rose let out a little cry of outrage and Dean chuckled again.

“That’s not fair, Dean” Rose said and Dean stilled his hand, resting it on her bottom.  “Oh no?  I asked you a question and you can’t answer it, so you obviously didn’t learn your lesson” Dean said.  “Seems perfectly fair to me.”  He leaned over, close to her ear and said “Unless you think maybe the brush would help you get the right answer……”

He left that idea out there, dangling, waiting to see what she wanted.  The last thing he wanted was to actually hurt her.  Smacking her with a spoon over her jeans was one thing, but that brush was a heavy solid wooden one and Rose had no protection between it and her bottom.  There was no way it wouldn’t hurt.  Still, if it was what she wanted he was game.  Dean made a mental note that in the future maybe they should discuss things like this ahead of time.  See where spontaneity got you?

Rose’s eyes were focused solely on the brush in question.  She was both fascinated and terrified.  She knew that brush would hurt.  But she would be lying if she said the idea of Dean spanking her with her own hairbrush had never crossed her mind.  Then again it would be hard to find something that hadn’t played a part in one of her Dean fantasies; her repertoire of those was vast and long.

Dean saw the look in her eyes and he read it just like he read everything else about Rose; Well and quickly.  “You have been awfully naughty, haven’t you, Rosie?" He said softly, in a husky voice.  "Is that what you need, a good hard spanking with that hairbrush on your bare bottom?” He saw her breath catch and her pupils dilate even more when he said that.  Words really did get to her.  She gave a quick little nod of her head and her fate was sealed.

Dean picked the brush up, feeling the weight of it in his hand and knowing he was going to have to show quite a bit of restraint.  It was solid and would deliver a hell of a wallop.  Where the hell had she gotten the thing anyway?  It certainly didn’t look like something she picked up at Target.  He took a breath and laid it flat against her bottom.  “So Rosie, you need to be thinking about that word, OK?”  He ran the flat of the brush against her bottom, the coolness of it soothing to her heated skin.  Her whole bottom was a light shade of red now.  “’Cause once you tell me that word I can make you feel so good.”  Rose gave a quick little nod of her head.  Dean took a deep breath and pulled the brush back and landed it with a hearty smack, causing Rose to let out a cry.  The spot he’d spanked had immediately turned a deeper shade of red, about the hue of a cherry and Dean decided that was the hardest smack she was getting.  He rubbed the brush over her bottom again, watching her face, making sure she was OK.  “I think we’ll put all these right here, Baby” he said, rubbing the brush on the lowest portion of her bottom.  “You said you like to be able to feel your spanking the next day, didn’t you, sweetheart?”  Rose mmm hmmmd a reply.  “Well you’ll definitely be feeling these.  Be thinking of that word, Rosie.”  And with a sharp crack he brought the brush down again, four more times in quick succession, drawing a soft whimper from Rose each time.  “You OK, Baby?” he asked, checking her bottom and her face, one of which looked like it had had enough and the other which looked like this could go on all day.  Rose hummed a yes and Dean slipped his fingers down again between her legs, finding her even wetter than she was before, which he hadn’t thought possible.  He stroked her lightly, dipping his fingers into her, causing a delicious whimper to escape her lips.  “Got an answer for me yet, Rosie?”  She shook her head and Dean wasn’t quite sure if that was the truth or is she was just enjoying herself too much.  He could understand that.  If he wasn’t worried about her bruising he could keep this up for hours, teasing her, touching her, just keeping her right on the edge.  She whined when he withdrew his fingers though and Dean took that moment to say.  “OK, here’s how this is going to go.  You’re getting five more with this brush and then you have two choices.  You answer my question correctly and you get rewarded.”  He smiled at her, ghosting his fingers up the back of her thigh, leaving no question as to his meaning.  “Or you don’t and well” he drew his hand away from her entirely “Then you’re left to your own devices.”

Rose sent him a glare over her shoulder.  “That’s evil.”

Dean grinned.  “The choice is yours, sweetheart.”  He rested the brush against her heated bottom and said “Ready to finish this up?”  Rose nodded and Dean patted her bottom softly with his hand.  “That’s my girl” and he smiled at the pleased look that phrase always brought to her face.  Then drawing the brush back he landed it fast and hard, five times, saying a word with each smack and then repeating the sentence when he was done.  “What’s the right word, Rosie?”

“A man!” she cried out, “You’re not a boy, you’re a man!”  And just like that Dean’s fingers were between her thighs, spreading her folds and touching and pressing and giving her exactly what she needed.  She rocked herself against his hand, her moans music to his ears and he thrust his fingers inside of her, stroking and pumping and then putting pressure right where he knew she needed it.  She flew apart in a matter of minutes, her breath uneven and her body shaking as she cried out his name.  She came for what seemed like forever, the pleasure washing over her in intense waves that took her breath away.  He stroked her softly, bringing her down until finally she lay limply across his lap.

They stayed like that for several minutes, Dean stroking her back softly until Rose opened her eyes and smiled at him.  He loved the lazy, satisfied look in her eyes and knowing that he was the one responsible for it.  He returned her smile and picked her up and sat her so she was straddling his lap.  She hissed when her bottom touched him.  He winced and said “You’re gonna be sore, Baby.”

Rose shrugged and grinned.  “Totally worth it” she breathed and Dean grinned smugly.

Rose smiled at him and leaned forward, her hands caressing his chest and her lips finding his.  She nipped at his lips, teasing him with her tongue, till Dean couldn’t take it and pulled her to him tightly.  Still her lips teased him, giving him little tastes but not the full access to her mouth he craved.  Never afraid to play dirty, Dean slid his hands down to her bottom, grasping her tender cheeks in his hands and drawing an open mouthed gasp from her.  He took full advantage of her open mouth, thrusting his tongue deeply in, licking and tasting her and causing them both to moan.

Rose ground against him and Dean let out a deep groan.  He was in just a t-shirt and boxers and there was very little material between him and Rose’s half naked body.  He could feel her wet, heat against his straining, hard cock through the thin fabric and it was driving him crazy.  His whole goal of that perfect first time together was quickly sounding like a ridiculous idea obviously thought up by an idiot and if it wasn’t for one thing, it might have died a quick death right then and there, with Dean taking Rose hard and fast.

But one thing did happen and it had a name: Sam.

“Hey guys” Sam pounded on the door.  “Are you guys up?”

“Up would be a fitting term” Rose giggled, rubbing herself against Dean and he bit off a moan.

“I’m gonna kill him” he muttered, burying his head against Rose’s neck. “He is so dead.”

Realizing Dean wasn’t going to be answering, Rose answered Sam with a “Ya, we’re getting there”.  Dean chose that moment to start licking her neck and Rose let out a small groan that Sam had to have heard.

Sam paused and Rose figured he must have figured out he was interrupting something.  "Just tell Dean to check his phone, OK?" he finally said and they heard his heavy footsteps walking away.

Dean groaned again and started to reach for his phone on the bedside table but Rose grabbed his arm, stopping him.  She smiled at Dean, a sexy, seductive smile that had Dean swallowing hard.  "Uh uh. Whatever it is it will be there when we're done.  Right now, you have something I need to take care of, Baby."  And reaching out a hand Rose stroked Dean through his boxers.  He groaned throwing his head back and his hands moved to grab the sheets.  Rose moved down his legs a bit, giving herself more room to work.  Honestly what she wanted to do, what every ounce of her was screaming to do was to pull his cock out and just sink down on it, burying it deep inside of her.  But she was aware that Dean seemed hesitant to take that last step, for reasons he had kept to himself.  Rose wasn’t sure what Dean’s reasons were but it seemed important to him and she trusted him enough to go with it.

So instead of doing exactly what her body wanted, she set about giving Dean some relief.  She felt his whole body tense when she slipped his cock out of his boxers and then with an evil smile she decided she wasn’t above teasing him though.  He’d certainly teased her enough.

“Hmm, if I only had something to use to make my hand a bit slicker” Rose purred and Dean seemed to get her meaning in an instant, if his whole body stiffening and his eyes flying open was any indication.  Catching his eyes and not losing eye contact for a second Rose slid one hand down the front of her t-shirt, slipping down between her legs and gasping softly when she touched her own sensitized skin.

Dean let out a load moan, watching her with heavily lidded eyes.  “Damn it, Baby, you’re gonna make me come without even touching me if you keep that up.”

Bringing her hand back up, wet with her own juices, Rose reached out and grasped his cock firmly in her slick hand.  His eyes flew shut and he groaned and let out a string of muttered curses.  “You like how that feels, Baby?” Rose purred, pumping up and down slowly.  “You like knowing that you’re the one who got me that wet?”  Dean let out a loud groan and Rose smiled.  “I’ll take that as a yes.”

Dean let out a hoarse chuckle.  “You can take that as a hell yes” he muttered.  Rose grinned, picking up the pace a little, her hand sliding over him smoothly and from that point on words failed Dean.  All he could do was moan as Rose’s hand stroked heat and fire through him, his groaning a constant soundtrack now.  And then suddenly the fire spread to his whole body and he was exploding, coming loudly with a shout of Rose’s name.

Rose pattered off to the bathroom and came back a moment later with a warm cloth to clean Dean off, and he gave her a grateful smile before tucking himself back into his boxers when she went back to the bathroom.  She returned a second later and he pulled her down next to him, holding her in his arms and kissing her deeply, his tongue stroking her lips lazily, leisurely making its way inside.  His hands gently held her face, slowly making their way back to grip her hair gently.  He pulled back and rested his forehead against hers, smiling at Rose in a way that made her heart stutter.

“Now that’s the way to start a day” he said, grinning and Rose laughed. 

“I’m going to jump in the shower and get dressed” Rose said and with one more kiss Dean let her up.

When Rose got to the door she turned and gave Dean a curious look.  Then clearing her throat she said:

"So, uh, just to clarify, it would be acceptable to call you a pretty _man_ , right?"  Then with a giggle she closed the bathroom door behind her, leaving Dean shaking his head.  A few seconds later he heard her singing along with the voice on her iPod “Well I’ve been saved by the grace of Southern Charm” and he couldn’t help but grin.

"Southern Charm, is that what they're calling it now?" he muttered to himself.

Dean lay there for a minute, enjoying the relaxed feeling that was draped over him like a comfortable blanket.  He smiled, thinking what a contradiction Rose was, so soft and almost prim one minute then wanton and teasing the next.  He loved that she kept him guessing.  And God, she was feisty! She may look like a sweet little delicate thing but damn if she couldn’t blow his mind with some of the stuff she did.  He thought he was going to come on the spot when she started touching herself.  He shook himself before his mind went too far with that train of thought.

His phone buzzed on the bedside table and with a groan he reached over and picked it up, knowing Sam would have a stroke if he didn’t get a response soon.  He had five text messages from Sam.  He read the first and swore.

_The witch Bobby called is getting here Sunday.  She says she needs all the girls to be there to guarantee the spell works._

Damn it all to hell.  He had been assuming that he could keep Rose away from Erin until after the spell was lifted.  He didn’t want her anywhere near her mother while she was still feeling the effects.  Who knew what shit she would say this time?

He scrolled through the rest of the texts.  All the rest were just basically Sam bitching about him not responding.  Damn, he was going to have to go get dressed and see what the whole story was.  He wanted to know all the details before telling Rose.

Walking over to the bathroom door he knocked but then realized Rose couldn’t hear him over the music.  He didn’t want to just barge in on her so instead he scribbled a quick note and left it on top of her bag.

Dean stopped by his room, showering and dressing in record time.  A plan was forming slowly while he went through the motions of his morning routine.  He sent a quick text to check if it was workable and got a reply within minutes, so at least part of it had a green light.  By the time he made it to the kitchen and grabbed some coffee he had a plan pretty well formed.  Sam was seated at the counter, grinning at him like only a nosy little brother can.

“Don’t even” Dean said, shooting him a death glare.  Sam just smirked but didn’t say anything.

“So why exactly does Rose have to be there for this spell?” Dean growled, hating this idea.

“Something to do with the spell possibly affecting all the Sulivan girls.  Bobby said she was emphatic about them all needing to be there.  She’s supposed to be a bad ass witch and he trusts her.”

“Ya, well I hate the idea.  Any chance we can gag Erin till the spells removed?”  Sam chuckled and Dean frowned.  “Hey, I’m serious.  She says one fucking wrong thing to Rose and I’m not going to be held responsible for my actions.”  Dean took a sip of coffee and then very casually asked “So you said she won’t be here till Sunday, right?”

Sam nodded, knowing from the look on Dean’s face that he had some reason for asking.  “I’m thinking Rose and I may take a little trip for a day or so, be back Saturday night.”

Sam looked surprised at this.  “A road trip?”

“Ya, we’ve both been cooped up here for awhile now, need to get some air, stretch our legs for a bit.”  Dean saw the look Sam was giving him and he wasn’t sure if it was because Sam had no idea why Dean wanted to do this or because he knew exactly why he did.  Either way Dean wasn’t in the mood to talk about it.  “And get away from everyone watching every move we make too.  Look, it’s just something we both need, OK?  Can we just leave it at that?”

Sam looked at his brother appraisingly for a minute then he slowly nodded.  “Ya, you got it.”

Dean nodded gratefully then said.  “Good, because I need a favor.”  And he went on to explain the next part of his plan that he needed Sam’s help with.

* * *

Rose came out of the bathroom to find the note from Dean, written in his broad, slanted scrawl-

_Hey Naughty Girl,_

_Be back in a few.  Wait for me here._

_Your Man_

He’d underlined man twice, making Rose giggle.  This point wasn’t going to be dropped anytime soon.

Rose dressed quickly in a pale pink t-shirt that proudly proclaimed "Rose Tyler is my Patronus" and a short grey pleated skirt.  At least the skirt was softer on her skin than jeans would have been but there was no denying she was sore.  She slipped on pink socks and sparkly silver sneakers and smiled happily at her outfit.  It was a happy outfit and she felt happy today.  She was humming to herself softly as she lay across the bed, reading emails on her phone when Dean came back.

Dean smiled at how happy she looked.  Hopefully the news about her having to be there for the spell removal wouldn't upset her too much and maybe the idea of a trip away for a few days would soften the blow.

"So I've got some good news and some slightly sucky news" Dean said, coming to sit on the bed beside her.  "Which do you want first?"

Rose frowned.  "Can we just ignore the sucky news all together?" 

Dean smiled ruefully.  "Wish we could, Princess, but that's not going to work."

"Fine, give me that first then" Rose said, with a dramatic sigh.

"The witch Bobby found is going to be here Sunday to remove the spell."  Dean took a deep breath and then shared the bad news.  "You'll have to be there for the spell removal, to ensure it works."

Rose turned this news over in her mind, not completely shocked by it.  Disappointed yes, but not surprised.  She shrugged.  "OK.  I don't really want to be but it makes sense."

Dean relaxed, seeing that Rose was taking the news in stride.  He forgot sometimes that she'd grown up around magic and was probably more comfortable around it and attuned to its ins and outs than he was.

"So what's the good news?" Rose asked, looking up at him curiously.

Dean grinned at her.  "Rosie, how would you like to take a little road trip?"


	41. Love's Always on Time

Just over an hour later Rose was seated in the front seat of the Impala next to Dean as they flew down the highway.  Once Rose had agreed enthusiastically to the idea of a few nights away from the bunker just her and Dean, things had happened quickly.  Dean had left Rose to pack while he went to get some clothes together for himself and talk with Sam about some details.  Lily of course had to come “help” Rose pack which really meant dig for details.  She did however agree to take care of Sookie while they were gone which was important.  Charlie was still working on the websites when they left and Rose had hugged her goodbye, feeling slightly guilty at running off for the weekend while she was busy working on what was essentially not her problem.  Charlie had hugged her back and whispered for her to have a good time with a twinkle in her eye.

Rose looked over at Dean behind the wheel and realized this was probably the first time she had ever actually been alone in a car with him.  He caught her look and asked “What?”

“Have we ever been alone in a car together before?” she asked.

Dean thought that over.  “I don’t think so” he said slowly.  “Usually Sammy or Lily or someone else has been along.  Huh.  Well there you go, another first for us.”  He gave her a relaxed grin and Rose returned it.

Rose sat back in the seat, watching Dean drive.  He looked relaxed behind the wheel, obviously enjoying it.  Dean caught her watching him and raised a questioning eyebrow but she just shook her head.  He caught her wiggling in her seat a little and he chuckled, earning a slightly embarrassed grin from Rose.

“Next time you decide on an impromptu road trip can it not be right after you spank me?” She asked ruefully.

Dean threw his head back and laughed at that.  “Ya, probably not the best timing huh?  Who knows though, might just keep your naughtiness in check for a little while.” And he winked at her and Rose couldn't help but laugh.   

“Maybe just for a little while” she demurred and Dean grinned at her.

“So, there is one thing I need to talk to you about” Dean said after a minute, looking slightly nervous.  Rose looked at him curiously.  What now?

“Um, you know the tattoos Sam and I have?”  Rose nodded and Dean cleared his throat before going on.  “You know what they mean?”

"They protect you from demon possession, right?"

Dean nodded.  Of course Rose would remember that, making this easier anyway.  Dean was running over in his head how he wanted to say this.  Not telling her, suggesting it, he reminded himself.

"Would you um, would you consider getting one?"

Rose looked a little startled at that, obviously caught a bit off guard.  Dean glanced at her and saw her thinking.  He was silent, giving her time to mull it over.  What Charlie had said about Rose and Lily making their own decisions had needled at him.  He knew both he and Sam could be pushy without meaning to be.  Hell, even Bobby had said as much.  They were just both so used to living a life where there wasn’t always time to discuss things, just time to act.  And honestly, his initial instinct when it came to someone he cared about was to make them do what would keep them safest, which he knew wasn’t the best way to go about things.  He knew he would balk if Rose tried to push him into something so he was trying to remember that now.  He was _trying_.

Finally she said “Could I get it anywhere?  I mean it doesn’t have to be where you guys have yours, right?”

Dean nodded.  “Ya, you could choose where you want it.”

“It doesn’t have to be as big as the ones you and Sam have right?” she asked nervously.

Dean chuckled.  “That’s something a guy always enjoys hearing.”  Rose rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest, clearly not amused.  “No, no it can be small if you want, just all the symbols have to be clear.”

“So I could get it on my ankle?”

Dean nodded.  “Yep, that would work.”

Rose nodded.  "OK then yes, I'll get one."

Dean smiled.  "Sam's going to talk to Lily and we'll meet them Saturday night on our way back, at the same tattoo parlor where we got ours."

"Oh so it's like a group outing" Rose said, then asked “What about Daisy?"

"I've got Sam on it" Dean said.  That got him a dazzling smile from Rose.  “I figured it would be a good idea if her and Lily had worked out their issues about the um, drunken library incident before Sunday.”

“Good idea” Rose agreed.  Then she mused “Did you ever think the phrase Drunken Library Incident would be something you would actually say in reference to your life?”

Dean considered that.  “It’s not the weirdest phrase I’ve ever used concerning my life but it’s definitely worth a mention.”

“So where exactly are we going?” Rose asked curiously.  Today was Thursday and if they were coming back Saturday night that gave them roughly 48 hours on their own.  That in itself was a good thing but Rose couldn’t help but wonder where the time was going to be spent.

“It’s a surprise, so you’ll just have to wait and see” Dean said, giving her a grin.  “I will tell you the rules though.”

"There are rules for this road trip?" Rose asked, giving Dean a questioning look.

"Yep.” Dean nodded.  “Well more so for when we get where we’re going, but there's a few for on the road too."

"Interesting, the man who claims he isn’t bossy has rules for our road trip.” Dean smiled a little guiltily but Rose laughed.  “OK what are these rules?  Oh and wait, do I have some sort of veto power?"

Dean considered that.  "I think I can safely say I don't think you'll have a problem with any of the rules.  But if you do we'll work something out."  He grinned at her.  “I'm a flexible kind of guy."

Rose let out a laugh then reached over and patted Dean's arm.  "You just keep telling yourself that, Sweetie."  Dean gave her a glare, obviously not amused by her humor. "OK, let's hear them."

"Number One - No cell phones."  Rose mouth dropped open in obvious horror.  She was already shaking her head but Dean continued on.  "You can turn off all your other stuff if you want to use your camera but no texting, no emailing, no facebooking."

"What if something happens at the bunker?  Or to my mom?" Rose demanded.

"There's a cell phone in the glove compartment and Sam has the number.  He'll call if and only if there's an emergency."  Dean could see Rose was calmer now that she knew Sam had a way to get a hold of them.  She didn't spend nearly as much time on her phone as Lily and Daisy.  He was pretty sure either of them would have had a meltdown at the very thought of no phone. "When was the last time you had some time away without having to worry about anything?  Trips like this don’t happen very often, Rosie.  Let’s be honest, we both have crazy lives.  I just want some time where it’s just us, just you and me, without distractions."  He gave her a smile that Rose couldn’t have said no to if she tried.

Rose returned the smile then slowly nodded her head.  Once she knew Sam could get a hold of them in case of an emergency the idea actually appealed to her.  Who wouldn't want uninterrupted time with Dean?  She nodded and pulled her phone out, turning off all her notifications and alerts then immediately turned and snapped a picture of Dean driving.  "You said I could take pictures" she said when he growled at her.

"I regret that already" Dean said with a scowl but Rose just happily smiled at him.

“And now” she clicked a few icons “You’re my new wallpaper.”  She smiled at him again and he rolled his eyes, trying to hide his grin at her obvious enjoyment over such a silly thing.    Clearing his throat he got back to the rules.

"Number Two - No prophecy, powers, visions or hunting talk.  We're just a normal couple on a weekend getaway."

"OK this rule I like" Rose said with a grin.  “But, I have to ask, do we know how to do normal?”

“We can try” Dean said, grinning back at her.  “Or at least shoot for our version of normal.”

"Number Three - No worrying.  We're going to relax and enjoy ourselves."

Rose frowned.  "If I say I can do two of those three things does that count?  I'm not good at not worrying."

Dean gave her a wolfish look.  "I'll distract you" and Rose immediately blushed, making Dean laugh.  "I could have been talking about something totally innocent, Rosie.  Maybe I was thinking about challenging you at checkers to distract you." Dean tskd at her in mock disapproval. "Your mind just automatically goes to a dirty place."

"That's me" Rose said, with a smile.  "So well known for my dirty mind."

"Among a select group you are" Dean said with a grin.

"So are those the only rules?" Rose asked.

"For now.  I reserve the right to add onto these rules as need be."

"Hmm" Rose said noncommittally.  "So I'm allowed to take pictures" she said holding up her phone, "Be normal, relax and enjoy myself.  Did I get that right?"

"Yep" Dean agreed.

"OK so what do normal couples talk about?  Your job is out, ninety-nine percent of what we've done in the last two weeks is out, most of the people we know are out."

“Well what would you normally talk about on a date?”

“Is this a date?” Rose asked with a smile.

“I think a weekend getaway counts as a date” Dean said, with a firm nod of his head.

“Hmmm well OK hopefully if I was going away with my date for a weekend I would know him pretty well.  So first date questions are out.”

“What would you ask on a first date?” Dean asked, genuinely curious.

“You really want to know?” Rose asked and Dean nodded.  Rose settled more comfortably in the seat, having to think for a second.  She hadn’t been on a first date in over a year now, not since she and Dean started getting closer.  “What do you do for a job, um, maybe some questions about your family.  But see I already know that about you and obviously one of those would break a rule.  And I’m a very rule abiding citizen.” Rose gave Dean her most innocent smile.

“I must have done a damn good job with that hairbrush” Dean said with a grin and that got a real laugh from Rose.  “OK so what else would you ask?  What don’t you know about me?”

Rose wracked her brain, trying to think of some question she would ask a date that she didn’t already know the answer to about Dean.  It was tough; they knew each other pretty well after all these years.  It was more the day to day details they were slowly learning.  Rose finally went with a fairly general question, though she was fairly certain she knew the answer.  “What do you like to do when you’re not working?”

Dean gave her a charming smile, deciding to commit to this first date thing.  “That’s a great question, Rosie and I-” He looked over to see Rose holding a hand up in a stopping motion.  “What?”

“If we were on a first date you wouldn’t be calling me Rosie” she said.  “Only like five people in the whole world call me that and they’ve all known me most of my life.”

“OK, _Rose_ ” Dean said, emphasizing her name.  “In my spare time I like to cook, watch movies and work on my car.  What about you, Sweetheart?”

“But you know the answer- Oh OK, fine.” Dean seemed to be determined to do this so Rose decided to play along.  “I like to bake, read and watch whatever TV show I’m obsessed with currently.”

Dean nodded.  “Next question?”

“You really want me to quiz you?” Rose asked, amused at this idea.

Dean shrugged.  “Why not?  We have a few hours in the car to go and you never know what you’ll learn.”

“OK, what’s your favorite kind of music?  And just a warning, there is a wrong answer to this.”

“Interesting.  Has to be classic rock.  Nothing else like it.”

“I don’t actually have a favorite, I love it all.  Lily says I have the most eclectic taste in music of anyone.  Rock, country, pop.  I just like a lot of different stuff.”

“So what was the wrong answer?” Dean asked curiously.

“Jazz.” Rose made a face, like she’d smelled something rotten.  “Sorry, but I dated a guy once who was obsessed and it drove me nuts.  I’m sure there is some great jazz out there but he just ruined it for me.”

“OK, so everything but jazz, got it.  Next?”

* * *

Back at the bunker Sam and Charlie were both buried in the library while Lily was keeping herself occupied at the shooting range.  Sam had found several brief mentions of the prophecy in a lot of books but hadn’t really found anything earth shattering until he came across a book entitled “Unveiling the Future” by Cecelia Kelly.  He skimmed through it, not finding much until he got to the chapter entitled Female Forces.  He started reading and felt his eyes grow wide.  “Holy Shit” he said, making Charlie look up from her laptop.

“Found something?” she asked and Sam nodded enthusiastically.

“This whole chapter is about them” he said, looking like a kid in a candy store.  “So far, it’s a lot of what we already know.  Their birthdates, family lineage, stuff like that…Oh here’s something new.”  He read a few seconds and then frowned.  “Damn, this is really dark.”  Sam looked up at Charlie and then read aloud:

“ **Trust will be broken and friends will turn out to be foes.  The most dangerous forces on earth hunger for the gifted one and will wreak havoc and bring about bloodshed with her in their grip.  Once her gifts have descended upon her the gifted one will never be the same and the life she knew will be hers no more.  She will forever be hunted.  There are those who will desire her power for good, but power easily twists good into evil.  Trust must be given with care and to very few.  The gifted one must be constantly guarded in order to keep her from darkness and the forces that would bend her to their will.** ”

“I hope nobody every writes a prophecy about me” Charlie said softly.

“You can’t show that to Rose” Lily said from the doorway, making both Sam and Charlie jump.

“We can’t keep it from her” Sam said, with a frown.

Lily gave an indelicate snort. “Ya, ‘cause you and Dean would never keep anything from each other right?” Charlie had to hide her grin because Lily did have a point there.  Lily was wearing a shirt that said "When Buffy Dies I'm The Slayer" and watching her now Charlie found that completely believable.  In the few short days she had known Lily she had definitely come to see her as a force to be reckoned with who pulled no punches and didn't know the meaning of the word subtle.  Right now she was giving Sam a fierce look, daring him to argue with her.

"Do you know what hearing that will do to her?” Lily said, coming further into the room.  “It’ll kill her.  Rose is one of the few people I know who actually _likes_ her life.  And that piece of shit” Lily waved her hand at the book in Sam’s hands and Charlie stifled another grin at the offended look on Sam’s face.  He looked genuinely upset that Lily had said bad things about a book. “It’s just told her that her life as she knows it is over.”

“Well Lil, to be honest, I mean she knows her life’s changed, right?" Sam asked with a frown.  "Rose is a smart girl.  She has to know it’s not just going to go back to the way it was.”

“It’s one thing to know that deep down and quite another to hear some dead person in a book say it.  And that says she’s going to be hunted.  Hunted, Sam!  Like she’s some kind of wild animal or something.  And guarded…what are we going to do, lock her in a castle?”  Lily started pacing and Charlie glanced at Sam nervously.  “And trust will be broken?  Rose is the most trusting person there is.  That will kill her, absolutely destroy her.”  She looked at Sam and there were tears in her eyes.  “Sam, she still believes people are genuinely good.  She talks to people at stores and smiles at babies and, and she, she helps people.  She volunteers at an old folk’s home for fucks sake.  Who does that?  I don’t even _like_ old people.  If suddenly somehow she can’t trust people, I don’t know that she can handle that, Sam.  That’s who Rose is.”

Sam stood up and came to Lily, taking her in his arms and holding her.  He rubbed her back and whispered soothing words in her ear and Charlie sat there, feeling majorly in the way.  She was wondering if she could sneak out quietly when Lily pulled back from Sam and wiped her eyes.  She gave him a grateful smile and came and sat down at the table, giving Charlie a watery smile.

“Sorry” she said.  “I swear, we’re not all as crazy as we seem.”  She cocked her head then amended her statement.  “Well, OK we are, but I swear not all the time.”  Sam came and sat back down, giving Lily’s knee a supportive squeeze.

“It’s totally OK” Charlie assured her.  “You’re all doing a lot better than I would be.  I’d just want to hide.”

“If I could convince Rose to hide for the rest of her life I would be all for it.  Fuck bravery; I just want her safe." Lily's eyes lit up suddenly and Sam grinned, knowing that look.  "I know! We can get all of us together, including my mom and Bobby and Days is probably going to want to bring the freaky angel dude.  And you can come too, I like you" she declared, waving a hand at Charlie.  Charlie blinked and then smiled at being deemed likeable by Lily.  "You gotta girlfriend?" 

Charlie nodded, saying "Yea, um sort of."

"Ok well then she can come too and we'll go somewhere.  Maybe we could get an island.  Sam, could we ward an island?"  Sam shrugged, used to Lily's ramblings.  "Ya see this would work.  And then screw the prophecy; no one’s hunting my sister."  Lily sat back, satisfied with her scheme.  Charlie looked at her and then at Sam, waiting for him to point out the flaw in this plan.  When he didn't say anything, just turned a page in the book Charlie felt she had to say something.

"Um, in my obviously limited experience with prophecies, running from them doesn't seem to work very well." Sam's head whipped up, trying to catch Charlie's eye but she was looking at Lily.  "I mean, I know Sam and Dean have um, survived some prophecies but running never seemed to work..."  Charlie trailed off when she caught how Lily was looking at her through narrowed eyes.  Charlie had the distinct impression she has just been literally voted off the island.  She looked at Sam and he gave her an apologetic shrug.  It was easier not to argue with Lily when she was making crazy plans.  He’d learned that the hard way.  "But hey what do I know?" Charlie went back to her laptop, avoiding Lily's death glare.

Obviously annoyed with Charlie's ruining of her plan, Lily looked at Sam hopefully.  “Think we could get Dean to kidnap Rose and run away somewhere?”

“Don’t give him any ideas” Sam said.  “He’s already taken her off to the middle of nowhere as it is.”

“As it has been pointed out to me by more than one member of the Winchester family that I am way too nosy about the intimate details of Dean and Rose’s relationship I’m not commenting on that.”  Lily said, with a superior look.  Sam mentally counted how long it would take her to say something.  He made it to ten before she said “She wouldn’t even tell me where they were going!”  Sam rolled his eyes at her and Charlie couldn’t help but grin.

* * *

"So guys trying to pick you up, what's an immediate turn off, total deal breaker?" Dean asked.  

Having quickly gone through first date questions they'd veered off into other subjects, dating mostly and preferences.

Rose thought for a minute.  "I'm not into cowboys, though maybe I look like I am?  Lily swears if there is a guy with a cowboy hat anywhere in a bar they'll find me." Dean chuckled.  He definitely couldn't see Rose as a cowgirl.  "And if your first line to me is something along the lines of you'll rock my world.." Rose rolled her eyes. "Come on, try a little harder please.  Show some creativity.  Oh and a guy I don't know putting their hands on me. Instant turn off."

"That happen to you a lot?" Dean asked, his anger at the very thought showing in his voice.

Rose shrugged.  "It's not a regular occurrence but ya, when I've gone to clubs or bars it happens quite a bit. Lily broke one guys jaw at a bar once who literally wouldn't stop grabbing me.  I'm not sure why guys think that will work.  But hey, having a big sister who can kick their ass comes in handy."

"And pretty soon you'll be able to too" Dean reminded her. 

Rose smiled at him and nodded, though she didn't look convinced of that fact.  "OK so what about you?  What's gonna get a girl shot down, no questions asked?"

"I'm not into the whole goth look, though far as I can tell I'm not their type either.  Oh and weird piercings....just no.  And how about you don’t bathe in perfume?  Some girls wear so much I can’t even breathe."   Rose made a commiserating face.

Rose's hand drifted over to play with Dean's hair absently.  He smiled, wondering if she was even aware she was doing it.  She was such a touchy person and Dean had to admit he loved it.

"Speaking of deal breakers...what's a deal breaker for you in a relationship?" Rose asked, and then noticing something out the window she grabbed her phone and took a picture.  Dean laughed.  She'd taken his whole picture taking thing seriously, telling him she was documenting their trip.  He thought her question over while she was taking pictures of...was it trees she was excited about?  He didn't have a whole lot of actual relationship experience but what would be a total red light for him?

"Someone who tried to come between me and Sam.  That's just not gonna happen." Rose nodded her head in agreement at that. "Someone who has a list of things they want to change about me.  And someone I can't trust.  If I can't trust you I can't be with you."

"I have a friend who makes a list with every guy she goes out with of things she wants to change about them" Rose confided.  "The relationships never last and she's always confused why they don't.  It makes me nuts."  Rose leaned her head back against the seat, her fingers still lazily combing through Dean's hair.  "Hmm, so for me…Don't gripe about me being so close to my sisters or spending too much time with them.  That's not going to change." Dean nodded his head in acknowledgment.  Pretty much matched his first one. "Don't treat me badly in front of other people and then act charming and sweet when it's just us.  One of the girls I work with had a guy like that and she finally dumped him.  I don't know what took her so long.” Rose paused and when she spoke again her voice was steely, leaving no room for error.  “Lastly don't ever cheat on me.  I don't forgive that."  Dean nodded in understanding.  That came down to loyalty. 

They were both quite for a few minutes then with a smile Rose asked:

"So if you walked into a bar and I was there, what would attract you to me?" That got a grin from Dean.  He obviously approved of this question.

“Where do I start?” he mused, getting a blush from Rose.  “Well first off I’d probably wonder what a girl like you was doing in a bar because you just don’t look like the type of girl who hangs out in one.”  Rose nodded her head, because it was true.  Usually if she was in a bar it was for a celebration.  She didn’t routinely go to them.  “But other than that, your smile would reel me in from a mile away.   Seriously Baby, you could knock a guy out with that smile.”  That got Dean a half embarrassed smile that he found adorable.   “I like the way you dress and I’d notice that.  I like all your cute little shirts that I don’t understand half of and I especially love you in a dress.  You have great legs.” Dean thought he deserved a lot of credit for not adding that he pictured her wrapping those legs around him every time he looked at them, but then knowing Rose she probably knew that anyway.  “And I have to mention your hair, because there just aren’t that many girls with hair like yours.”  Rose reached up and smoothed her hair back, grimacing.  She had a love hate relationship with her hair and Dean knew it.  “Hey, I love your hair” he said, reaching over and tugging on a lock of it.  Rose rolled her eyes at him but she smiled as well.

“I like your smile too” Rose said.  “You don’t fake smile.  You’re eyes smile when you’re happy and I love that.”  She leaned her head back and looked at him.  “You look good in jeans and I would definitely notice that.”  Dean laughed at that.  “And you know what would really stand out to me?  No laughing or teasing me about this, but you’re polite.” Dean raised an eyebrow at her, not having expected that.  “A lot of guys I’ve seen in bars act like complete jerks, to the waitresses, to other women in the bar.  You say thank you, and please and you open doors for people and well, I like that” Rose said, smiling at him with the sweet smile that always stopped his heart. 

“You always throw in the unexpected, Rosie and keep me guessing” he said.  Seeing a sign for a local lunch spot he asked “Ready for some lunch?” and Rose nodded.  “We’re about an hour away from our final destination” Dean said, giving Rose a grin.

She smiled at him, and he could tell she was excited to get there.  She wasn’t the only one.

* * *

Sam had spent the next hour reading through the chapter on the sister’s prophecy.  It was full of cautionary warnings of what could happen, definitely not light reading.  It mostly focused on Rose, with lots of mentions of evil forces and darkness twisting and perverting good.  Sam had found three more books they had by the same author and had added them to his reading pile.

Charlie had gone out to get some food to bring back for lunch.  No one felt like cooking and take out seemed like a good idea.  It was easy to see the cooks were gone and no one was stepping into take their place.

Lily came in just as Sam was reaching for the next book in the pile and sat down across from him with a sigh.

"Did Dean really not tell you where they were going?" She asked suspiciously.

Sam nodded, having already told her this twice. 

"Well I just think that was a stupid thing to do.  What if something happens?"

"Dean can handle it" Sam said calmly.

"Hmmph.  If he gets my sister hurt I'm gonna be really pissed."  She waited and when Sam didn't respond she added.  "I just don't get why they had to go off on their own."

Taking a deep breath Sam looked up from the book he was trying to read, praying for patience.  "Do you remember when I told you that Dean and Rose were different than us?  That they had to do things their own way?" Lily nodded.  "This is a perfect example of that.  They need time on their own without certain people watching them."

"Or other people interrupting them" Lily said smartly, having heard Sam's tale of the mornings events.

"That too" Sam admitted with a wince.  Sam looked at Lily thoughtfully then asked.  "Hey has Rose had a lot of serious relationships?"

"Eh, not really?  She's had quite a few boyfriends but only one or two who she kept around for more than a few months."

"Hmm, you ever wonder why that was?"

"Nope" Lily said.  "I know why."  Sam looked at her curiously and motioned for her to continue.

"They were all just placeholders."

"For?"

"Your brother, of course."  At Sam's surprised look Lily sighed.  "If you breathe a word of this to him I'll kill you." 

"My lips are sealed" Sam said, looking fascinated.

"They better be" Lily muttered.  "Look when Rose makes her mind up about something there's no changing it.  She digs her heels in and that's it.  You can drag her through the fires of hell and she won't budge.  And as far as I can tell she made up her mind about Dean years ago.  She won't come out and say it but I know my sister."  Lily toyed with a pencil on the table then added "The only guy who ever even came close to challenging Dean was Danny.  He and Rose were crazy about each other and it went on for quite awhile.” Lily gave a little laugh.  “God, my dad despised him.  He tried to tell her she couldn’t see him anymore and she refused.  It’s the only time I've ever seen Rose not give in to my dad.  My parents were actually terrified she was going to run off with him or get pregnant or both."  Sam’s eyes went wide at that, having no idea how serious it had been.  Lily smiled at Sam and said "Interestingly enough right around the time my parents were really worried about Danny and nothing they were doing was working, my dad called yours and asked for some help on a hunt, specifically asking him to bring you boys along.” Lily smirked at Sam. “Rose and Danny broke up the day after you guys left town.  So ya, my dad knew what he was doing."

Sam shook his head, amazed at all the maneuvering that went on behind the scenes.  "So your dad knew that would work?  That Dean just being there would do the trick?"

"Course he did.  He knew Rose had always had a soft spot for your brother.  He's totally her weakness." 

"You ever get the feeling they have some secret script or something they’re following that we know nothing about?"  Lily looked at Sam questioningly.  "OK well while my brother has no problem picking up women I can count on one hand how many actual relationships he's had."

"So are you gonna tell me your brother has slept with half the continental US but never settled down because he's been waiting on my sister?" Lily asked with a dubious look.

Sam laughed.  "I don't know if I'd put it quite like that.  I think maybe, not consciously mind you, but maybe he's always known he'd be with Rose eventually, so why bother putting the effort in with anyone else?"

Lily thought about that a second.  "Makes sense.  They have always made me want to yell at them to just get on with it already."  Sam chuckled.  "I mean come on, the connection between those two?" Lily rolled her eyes and Sam nodded.  "So is this something he does, sweeps women off for a weekend to a secret location?"

Sam shook his head.  "My brother doesn't plan.  He just goes to a bar, picks up a girl and seals the deal."  Sam thought about it a second and said "Since he started this relationship with your sister he hasn't done anything more than flirt with another woman."  He looked at Lily, wanting her to get how big a deal that was.  "That's over a year, Lil." Lily's eyes widened at that.  "Before I realized there was something going on between them I was worried something was wrong with him." Sam paused then added "You want my take on it, I think my brothers falling in love with your sister, if he hasn't already."

Lily sighed.  "I know the looks Rose is giving Dean.  She's headed down that same path.  Now how long before they figure this out?"  Sam shrugged and Lily groaned.  "Can't we just sit them down and tell them?"

Sam laughed, imagining how well that would go over.  "Nope, they've gotta do it in their own time, in their own way."

Lily sighed again.  "Well they need to figure it out quick.  I hate waiting."

* * *

The miles had flown by, them asking question after question and laughing and talking.  Dean had told her they were close to where they were going, though he warned they would be heading out for dinner pretty quickly after they got there.  They made a quick stop at a small gas station, where Dean went in and talked to the clerk and came back out with a key.  The area looked pretty rural, not a lot of buildings, but some pretty scenery. 

“So I take it you’ve been here before?” Rose asked.  “Wherever here is.”

“Ya, a few years ago.  Had a rough job and just needed some time on my own to clear my head.” Dean said, taking a turn that took then down an even quieter road.

"So you’ve never been here with anyone else?” Rose asked, realizing that wasn’t exactly subtle.  Dean didn’t seem to mind though and actually grinned at her.

“Nope, I’ve never brought anyone else here.”  And with perfect timing Dean pulled up to their destination.

Rose looked up at a picturesque log cabin, nestled into a small area of woods next to a lake.  Dean was watching her face and he was thrilled at her reaction.  Her whole face lit up with absolute delight.  “Oh Dean, it’s gorgeous.  We’re staying here?”  She turned from the house to look at him, an ecstatic smile on her face.

Dean grinned at her reaction.  “Yep, till Saturday.  A buddy of mine owns it and he rents it out.  We lucked out that it was free this weekend.”

Rose was giving him her shining smile, the one that made him just want to soak her happiness in.  He leaned over and kissed her, his lips soft and sweet on hers before pulling back and smiling at her.   “Come on, let’s go in.”

Dean held Rose’s hand and led her up to the house, their bags over his shoulder.   He unlocked the door and ushered her inside, watching her look around.  The first room was a rustic but charming living room, which opened onto a dining room and the kitchen.  There was a hallway leading to a guest bedroom and bathroom and stairs leading up to what Dean pointed out was the master bedroom, where he quickly took their bags.   Rose noticed something by the windows in the living room and looked at Dean.  He nodded.

“Ya, let’s just say the cabins protected.”  He nudged the rug near the door and Rose saw markings on the floor underneath.  On all the window seals there were grooves filled with salt.  Rose smiled.  That was just like Dean, always keeping her safe.  When she looked at him curiously, obviously wondering how these things were here, he acquiesced and admitted “My friends a hunter, so the place is designed with things in place to keep things out.  People who rent it likely don’t notice.”

“What did you say he was?  Hmmm, pretty sure that’s against your rules.  Who’s the naughty one now?” Rose teased with a grin.

“Ya, well I was totally set up” Dean grumbled, heading to the kitchen and calling out “Kitchens stocked too.  But if you want to get changed, we can head out for some dinner.”

“Am I good to wear a dress to dinner?” Rose asked, heading towards the stairs.

“It’s not a fancy place or anything but you’re always good in a dress, sweetheart” Dean said with a grin.

Rose laughed and headed upstairs, glad she had thought to bring a dress along.  The master bedroom was huge, with an open loft design that looked out over the living room and had a great view of the lake.  There was a king size bed, a large TV and comfortable looking love seat as well.  Rose got what she needed and headed to the master bathroom.  She stopped in her tracks when she saw the bathtub. 

“Dean?” she called and he looked up from where he was rummaging in his bag and joined her in the doorway of the bathroom.  “That is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen” Rose said, pointing at the huge bathtub, which took up the majority of the bathroom.  It was a huge garden tub with hot tub jets and large enough that you could have easily fit several people in it.  Dean chuckled at her obvious delight. 

“Hmm, we’ll have to see what we can do with that later” he said, then smiled and walked out, closing the door behind him. 

“You shouldn’t say things like that if you want to get me out of this house” she called after him, then with a smile she turned to get ready.

“Just get through dinner” Dean was muttering to himself as he headed downstairs to the guest bath to get changed.  “An hour, two hours tops, you can make it.”


	42. We'll See Some Magic in the Room

The place Dean took Rose for dinner was nice, nothing fancy but the food was good and there was music playing (A definite plus in Rose’s book) but not so loudly that they couldn’t talk.  They chatted over dinner, mostly just light, flirty banter.  Rose wasn’t sure how Dean was feeling but she was way too distracted to carry on much of a conversation at this point.  There had been a moment as they were leaving the cabin to head out for dinner, when Dean had put his hand on her waist that still had her head spinning.

Dean had smiled at her when he’d first seen her in the dress, liking the soft lines of it and how soft and feminine she looked in it.  There was a softness to Rose that he'd always been drawn to and he loved that she didn't try to hide that or cover it up.  Rose wore her gentleness as proudly as Lily wore her toughness.   As they were leaving he’d put a hand on her waist, just a simple touch and Rose had felt a jolt of electricity go through her entire body.  From the look on Dean’s face he’d felt it too.  They’d both stopped, frozen to the spot for a second before they both shook themselves and hurried to the car.  Neither had said anything about it but that energy was there between them all through dinner, buzzing lightly in the background. 

Rose giggled happily when Dean declared the cherry pie they both ordered a pale substitute for the one she had made him.  (And if Rose was honest he was right: hers was better.)  He told her she had ruined him for anyone else’s pie and winked at her and Rose had felt a flush of happiness. Then they were back in the car, heading back to the cabin and the energy buzzing in the background seemed to kick up a notch.  Walking up on the porch with Dean by her side, Rose felt like her skin was practically vibrating.  

Dean opened the door and walked in ahead of her (Hunters cabin or not, Dean took no chances with safety.) and then ushered her in, stopping her with both his hands on her waist now and there was that little jolt of electricity again. The cabin was dark, only a small light from the kitchen and one from the upstairs bedroom shedding any light.  Still, Rose could see enough of Dean’s face when he turned her to face him, with just the barest touch of his hands, to see the heated look in his eyes.  His face was intense, staring at her steadily, his eyes glittering in the soft light from the kitchen.  His hands moved up to cup her face softly, his hands stroking her skin and his eyes were just drinking her in. 

Slowly he leaned down to cover her lips with his, a brief, gentle touch of his lips on hers which left Rose wanting more.  Dean pulled back and looked at her and his hands slowly moved to her shoulders.  He slid the sweater she had put on to ward off the cold night air, off her shoulders and draped it over the back of the couch.  Then he watched her slip her shoes off her feet and he finally spoke.

“We had a conversation in your room, Baby, almost two weeks ago.”  He ran his hands down her bare arms now, rubbing the skin softly and Rose swore she felt sparks fly under his touch.  He gave her a slow, sinful smile that instantly caused Rose’s heart rate to pick up.  "You said something about wanting to see if I lived up to my reputation?”  Rose’s eyes went wide, remembering that conversation well.  It had ended with her pressed up against the door with Dean’s mouth ravaging hers.  He chuckled, seeing that she remembered.  “I believe I made you a promise then of no interruptions and all the time we needed.”  He wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her against him suddenly, tearing a gasp from Rose’s lips.  “Well Baby, I think that time is finally here.”  Dean’s mouth came down on hers then, hot and demanding and tired of waiting and Rose responded in kind.  Her hands grabbed his shoulders; her body pressing against his while his hand that wasn’t wrapped around her waist wrapped itself in her hair, tugging just enough to pull a deep moan from Rose’s lips.  His tongue took advantage of the opening and swept in, licking and sucking her tongue till Rose’s knees felt weak.  She leaned her hips against the back of the couch for support and Dean moved his mouth to her neck, licking and nibbling and drawing sweet little gasps from her.  Rose’s hands stroked down Dean's back to his waist, un-tucking his shirt and sliding her hands up underneath, wanting to feel his skin under her hands.  Her hands drug up his back, her nails scratching his skin lightly and Dean’s mouth found a spot on her neck that drew a whimper from Rose and he sucked and licked that spot till she was digging her nails into his back.  Slowly he pulled away from her neck and gave her a slow, sexy smile.  He took a step back from her and then offered her his hand, pulling her with him when she took it, towards the stairs.

Dean climbed the stairs determinedly, his feet never faltering towards his destination.  He stopped at the foot of the bed and moving to stand behind Rose he wrapped an arm around her waist, slipping the other one down to cup one of her bottom cheeks.  Rose jumped slightly and gasped and Dean chuckled.  “Sore?” he asked and she nodded, her face slightly flushed, though Dean wasn’t sure if it was from embarrassment or excitement, maybe a combination of both.

“You look really pretty in that dress, Rosie" Dean said, making Rose smile.  “I watched you shifting in your seat at the restaurant and kept thinking how no one there had any idea that a few hours ago the gorgeous redhead sitting across from me was laying over my lap, getting her pretty little ass well and properly spanked.” Dean chuckled darkly, resting his chin on Rose’s shoulder, feeling her pulse race at his words.  “Didn’t really help my concentration level.”

Rose shifted, squeezing her legs together and Dean couldn’t hide his grin.  “Ya, I can understand that” she rasped out, licking her suddenly dry lips.

“Then I started thinking about how much I actually liked knowing that you had marks on you that I put there.  That my hands had marked you, that even the bruises I’m sure that brush left, were from me.”  Dean had caught the way Rose’s breathing had picked up at his words.  “That surprised me a little but the more I thought about it the more it made sense. Aside from the fact that I know how much those marks turn you on, do you know why I liked that idea so very much, Rosie?” he breathed in her ear and Rose shook her head quickly.

“Because you’re mine. You’ve always been mine. Those marks are just proof of that. You belong to me, Rosie.”  Dean waited, unsure how Rose would respond to such a bold, slightly archaic statement.  He realized as alarm coursed through him that he might have just majorly fucked up.  Rose could easily be pissed at being told she belonged to him.  He hadn't planned on saying any of that but it's what he had been thinking at the restaurant and as so often happened with Rose he had found the words slipping out before he could stop them.  She turned in his arms slowly, to look him in the eye.  With a sigh of relief Dean saw she was smiling.  It was a genuinely happy smile but also a slightly predatory one that Dean didn’t think he’d ever seen on her before.

“You’re right, Dean, I am yours.  I always have been and always will be.”  Dean's heart seemed to beat an extra beat at hearing those words leave her lips.  Rose reached down and took one of his hands and laced her fingers through his, then held their joined hands up between them.  “But possession is like holding hands.  You hold my hand, I hold yours back.  Neither one of us is holding hands more than the other one.”  She reached up and brushed her lips against his ear.  “You’re mine.  It goes both ways, Dean.  You belong to me too.”

Before Rose could fully pull back Dean’s hands were in her hair, slamming his mouth down on hers.  His lips were kissing her hungrily, as if trying to devour her and his hands were twisted firmly in her hair, giving her no room to move.  He’d held back so much for so long and it had all just been too much.  Hearing her matching words of possession had set something loose in him.  It wasn’t just him who longed and ached for this.  His heart whispered the word _acceptance_ to him, softly but persistently and his brain acknowledged that on sight.  His hands found the zipper at the back of her dress and he tugged it down impatiently, wanting to feel her skin under his hands.  Dean was sure that almost everyone who knew him would have sworn he would have run for the hills upon hearing a woman claim he belonged to her.  He knew it didn’t mesh with his reputation but this wasn’t just any woman.  This was Rose and she had always had her own set of rules in his life, which pretty much boiled down to exactly one rule – She could do whatever the hell she wanted.

Right now what she was doing was pulling back from him and unbuttoning his shirt, tugging the buttons open impatiently.  She got the last one undone finally and pulled the shirt open, pushing it off his shoulders and smoothing her hands over his chest.  Her touch was firm, sure, stroking what she knew belonged to her with a touch that took his breath away.  She leaned forward and placed a soft kiss over his heart, then she looked up at him from under her lashes with a tiny smile on her lips and said softly “Mine.”  Dean’s eyes darkened and widened and he surprised her by grabbing her shoulders and spinning her around suddenly so her back was to him again.  Quickly he pushed her unzipped dress off her shoulders, watching it pool at her feet and then just as quickly he unsnapped her bra and pushed that off her shoulders too.  He scattered kisses across her shoulders and neck, causing her head to fall back and he lifted both hands to hold her breasts, causing a deep moan to fall from Rose’s lips.  He felt their weight in his hands and his thumbs brushed over her hard nipples, pulling whimpers from her.  He slid one hand down to slip between her legs then, stroking her heat and she gasped and thrust her hips against his hand.  “Dean” she whined desperately when he moved his hand away.

“Patience, Baby" Dean said, moving his hands to the waistband of her panties and pushing them down.  He sank to his knees behind her then and his eyes scanned her marked bottom.  His fingers traced the red marks and bruises marring her ivory skin.  “Someone marked you up really good, Rosie” he said gruffly, stroking her bottom softly, drawing little whimpers from her.

“Wonder who could have done something like that” she murmured, giving him a seductive smile over her shoulder.  Dean gave her a sexy smirk and then, knowing her eyes were on him he leaned forward and softly kissed the marks he’d made just a few hours earlier.

Rose’s breath caught in her throat, heat flooded her core and her knees threatened to buckle at the look and the delicious feel of Dean’s lips on her tender skin.  Luckily he wrapped a strong arm around her waist and kept her steady.  “Rosie” he said, drawing her eyes back to him.  Keeping his eyes locked on hers he once again placed his lips to her bottom then pulled back and looking up at her said “Mine.”  Then he drew his hand up between her legs, drawing a soft gasp from Rose and cupping her sex he murmured “Mine.”  He stood swiftly then and turning Rose in his arms he bent down and mimicking her move from earlier he kissed her softly over her heart and looking up at her with a breathtaking smile he murmured “Most especially, mine.”

As Dean drew her into his arms and kissed her deeply and his hands swept over her body, Rose was pretty sure her heart was bursting.  It felt like Dean was laying fire on her skin everywhere he touched her, leaving behind sparks of desire so strong she wasn’t sure she could stand it.  On top of the desire were all the emotions.  The emotions coming from Dean tonight were indescribable and Rose felt as if she was drowning in them.  She hadn’t expected any kind of declaration of his feelings tonight and certainly hadn’t been planning on making any kind of admission of her own.  But as soon as the words “You’re Mine” had left Dean’s mouth it was if a protective shield she didn’t even realize she had up had crumbled and the words had poured out unedited.

Rose let out a squeak of surprise when Dean lifted her suddenly and placed her in the middle of the bed.  She went to reach for him and he shook his head.  “I want to look at you for a minute” he said, smiling at her.

“Only if you get rid of the rest of your clothes” Rose said, laying back and watching him with a smile.  “My clothes are obviously much easier to get off than yours.”

Dean grinned, toeing his shoes and socks off.  "Yet another reason to love you in a dress.  Easy access.”

Rose just gave him a languid smile, feeling decadently wanton, laying on the bed naked with him staring down at her.  His eyes drug over her, almost as strong as a physical touch and Rose licked her lips, feeling heat coursing through her.

Dean pulled his jeans and boxer briefs off quickly and Rose leaned up on her elbows, taking in the sight of him.  Her eyes ran over him, taking in every inch of him, from head to toe with lots of stops in between and finally dragging her eyes back to his lust darkened ones.  Her smile beckoned him to her and Dean quickly climbed up on the bed, stopping and kneeling between her legs.

Dean’s hands reached out and he slowly placed his hands on her thighs, spreading them wide and taking in the view this opened up to him.  He raised his eyes and grinned up at her then and it was honestly the most sinful grin Rose had ever seen.  “I seem to recall there was a part of my promise that included me licking every inch of you.” He drew one hand between her legs, barely touching her.  “And Rosie, there’s one part of you I know I haven’t tasted yet.”  Then holding her eyes he drug his hand up to his lips and tasted her wetness and then gave her a wink. “Oh I’m going to enjoy this.”

He settled down between her legs then and Rose bit her lip, leaning back and gasping softly as she felt Dean’s hands on her thighs, holding her legs open for him.  When his tongue slowly licked a long stripe up her center she whimpered and her hips bucked.  Dean smiled, loving her response.  His tongue flicked out, licking at her soft, pink folds, then teasing her clit and Rose’s noise level kicked up a notch.  God, his tongue was just touching her everywhere and then his fingers were joining in, slipping inside of her and she was groaning loudly.  “Dean, I, oh God” she muttered, incoherently and Dean increased his efforts, loving the way her voice sounded, all rational thought out the window, his eloquent Rosie only capable of broken sentences.  His tongue lapped at her, loving the taste of her and the way she was starting to thrash around on the bed told him he didn’t have long to savor it.  Sliding his hands down under her tender bottom (And that got a whimper all its own) he pulled her as close to him as he could, burying and thrusting his tongue inside her.  Rose came with a loud shout and Dean licked her through it, relishing the taste of her.  When he finally pulled back he smiled at the picture she made, her face flushed and hair a wild mess and a look of pure bliss on her face.  She graced him with a dreamy smile and Dean felt his breath catch in his throat.

He climbed up to lay by her, brushing her hair back from her face and watching her catch her breath.

“That was…” Rose waved a hand, words having failed her and Dean laughed, feeling a moment of triumph.  He had actually made her at a loss for words.

“Hey, gotta take care of my girl, right?” Dean said, kissing her lips softly.  “I take care of what’s mine” he said and he watched Rose’s eyes widen at that.

“So do I” she murmured and she turned towards him so they were facing each other then and her eyes locked onto his before she leaned into kiss him.  One of her hands stroked his chest, moving quickly towards his aching cock.  She grasped him firmly and he pulled his mouth back from hers with a groan.

“Rose, Baby, don’t” he said, catching her wrist and stopping her.  His other hand drifted down between her thighs, stroking her and causing Rose to arch her back and gasp. “I want to come inside you tonight, Sweetheart” he said looking into her eyes and the lust in them made him catch his breath.  “But if you touch me like that, even just a little, there is no way that’s going to happen.”

Rose smiled at him and kissed him again, her tongue sliding along his lips teasingly and then she pulled back and looked at him, her eyes leaving no question as to what she wanted.  “Now, Dean, please” she said, her voice urgent.

With a smile Dean rolled her onto her back and lay between her legs.  His mouth found one of her breasts, sucking her nipple into his mouth and worrying it, his other hand, stroking her other breast, causing Rose to arch her back and whimper.  She felt his hard cock, nestled between her thighs and rolled her hips up against his, getting a groan from Dean, the vibrations of his mouth against her nipple sending a little shockwave of pleasure through her.

He pulled his mouth away from her breast and held himself above her, hovering over her.  “Ready, Baby?” he asked, his voice husky with need.  Rose nodded and smiled at him, her eyes telling him how ready she was.

With a deep breath Dean pulled back and gritting his teeth and calling up every ounce of self control he had he slowly eased himself into her.  Rose’s eyes went wide and her hands clutched at his shoulders, as a soft little “oh” left her mouth, while Dean moaned and buried his face against her neck.  She felt so damn good, so warm and wet and it had been too damn long.  All he wanted to do was thrust into her hard and fast.  But he’d waited this long to do this right, he was damned if he was going to mess it up now.  He waited a few minutes, letting her adjust to him and counting backwards and thinking of anything he could to calm himself down.  Then Rose started moving her hips a little and he groaned.  He pulled his head back from her neck and looked at her face.  She was smiling at him, her face the picture of happiness.  Keeping his eyes on her face her pulled his hips back and then thrust into her again, a little quicker this time and all he saw on her face was pleasure and lust.  Still making himself go slower than he would have normally Dean found a rhythm and Rose’s hips matched it.  Her fingers were lightly stroking his shoulders and Dean moved his mouth down to kiss her deeply, his lips and tongue ravishing her mouth.  He changed the angle of his hips slightly and suddenly her fingers were digging into his shoulders.  He thrust again and got a desperate whimper from Rose and he grinned.  Oh ya, that was the spot.  He got a nice steady rhythm going then, still holding himself back though when Rose pulled her mouth back from his.  “I’m yours, Dean, you said, I’m yours, right?” she asked desperately.  Dean groaned, her words going straight to his cock.  “You’re mine, Baby, all mine” he growled.  Rose looked him straight in the eye then, her pupils huge with want and need.  “Then take me, Dean.  I’m not going to break.”  With a growl Dean thrust into her, burying his cock deep inside of her and he heard Rose’s appreciative groan.  He thrust into her hard and fast then, groans spilling from his lips and Rose’s fingernails were digging into his back and she was whimpering with every thrust, his name intermixed with her whimpers like music to his ears.  His mouth found hers again, his lips desperate and demanding as he felt the tension building.  He could feel her walls tightening around his cock and with a few more thrusts he felt her whole body stiffen and saw indescribable pleasure wash over her face, his name leaving her lips with a loud cry.  With a few more deep thrusts Dean felt everything in him explode and he came with a loud shout of Rose’s name.

He rested his forehead against hers for a minute, their eyes locking and then he rolled over; taking her with him so she was lying sprawled across his body.  She nestled her head under his chin and he wrapped his arms around her, placing a kiss on the top of her head, loving the feel of her against him.  They lay there, catching their breath together and one thought and one thought only flitted across Dean’s mind: _It was worth the wait._


	43. It Was One of Those Fires That Burned All Night

Rose placed a small kiss on Dean's chest, feeling deliciously sleepy and sated.  He was running his hands up and down her back in long lazy strokes and sneaking a peek up at his face she saw his eyes were closed and he wore a happy, contented smile.  Feeling her eyes on him Dean slowly opened his and grinned at her and she happily returned it.  He looked so happy it made her heart catch in her throat.  He brought his hand up to brush his knuckles across her cheek.

"Happy?" He asked and Rose nodded.  Rose was as happy and content as she could ever remember being.

“It’s getting chilly though” Rose said with a laugh.

“I didn’t notice” Dean said, with a wink.  “I have a Rose sized blanket.”  He rolled her off of him and reached down and pulled the blanket up that was at the end of the bed and lay back down, pulling the blanket over the both of them.  He snuggled Rose in his arms and gave her a soft kiss.  "Better?" He asked and she nodded gratefully.

“Nap time?” Rose asked hopefully, snuggling against Dean.

Dean chuckled and agreed.  “Definitely time for a nap.”  He held Rose against him, closed his eyes and the two of them got some much deserved rest.

* * *

While Dean and Rose were enjoying their time together Lily was in her own personal hell.  It had been research and prophecy talk for hours now.  Sam had been reading through the rest of the books by the woman who had wrote the doom and gloom chapter on Rose that Lily hated so very much while Charlie had still been working on the websites and researching the priest and nuns.  Lily knew this was important but it was like torture for her.  She had way too much energy to sit still for long and when it just meant hearing horrible things that could befall her sister it made it that much worse.  She’d already worked out, did some laundry (Including Sam's and Rose’s and damn, did that girl go through clothes.) painted her nails (A fiery red shade she loved.) and looked up some new drink recipes that she saved for the next time they got a chance to play her game (Jello shots! Why hadn’t she thought about those before?).  It felt like hours since they had eaten lunch and Lily wished Rose were here to fix dinner.  And to talk, she admitted with a frown.  Aside from when Rose had gone to college she and Lily had hardly been separated and Lily found with a sharp pang that she didn’t like it. She was used to having her sister here to talk, to gripe, just to be near.  Pulling her phone from her pocket she texted Rose.  She knew she wouldn’t respond (Sam had already told her that she and Dean were turning their phones off and that whole idea made her crazy.) but she did it anyway.

Sam saw what she was doing and gave her a sympathetic look.  “She’ll be back Saturday night, Lil.”

She scowled at him, crossing her arms.  “I don’t get why they had to go away in the first place.”  Sam opened his mouth to answer and Lily cut him off.  “I know, I know.  They’re Rose and Dean and we’re Sam and Lily.  I get that.  I just don’t get _them_.”

Sam stood up then, said “Give me a minute” and disappeared without any further explanation.  Lily had no idea what he was doing.  She looked over to find Charlie smiling at her.

“You and your sisters seem so close” She said, a note of envy in her voice.  “It must be nice.”

“You don’t have any sisters?” Lily asked.

Charlie shook her head.  “I’m an only child” she said.

“No you’re not.  You have brothers” Lily said with certainty.  Charlie blinked and then smiled, realizing what Lily was saying.  She nodded then, knowing that was Lily said was true.  Sam and Dean really were her brothers, without a doubt.  Lily leaned back in her chair, propping her legs up on Sam's chair and thinking.

“We are close” she said, returning to Charlie’s initial statement.  “Don’t get me wrong, we make each other nuts sometimes, especially Daisy, but I’m glad I have them.  We look out for each other, ya know?” Charlie nodded, in the short time she’d seen the girls together she could see how that worked.  “I’m just used to being around them and Rose especially never goes away, so this is just weird.  And I suck at research so I’m just bored.” She gave Charlie an apologetic smile.

“Hey Lil” Sam said from the doorway, drawing both girls eyes his way.  “Come here a sec.”

Lily bounced up immediately, glad to be moving and followed Sam when he led her down the hallway to their room.

“I’ve been meaning to do this for awhile now” he said, opening the door.  Lily walked in and immediately saw what he had been up to.  Another dresser had joined Sam’s in the room and her eyes flew to his in surprise.  “This way you can get your clothes off the chair" Sam said, motioning to the chair that held Lily's clothes pile.  "I figured you could spend some time getting your stuff put up today.  Oh and I cleared room in the closet for your shoes too. And then if there’s anything else you need in here we can work on that later.”

Lily was giving Sam a smile that was both happy and surprisingly enough almost shy.  Without another word she came forward and wrapped her arms around his waist and Sam immediately wrapped his arms around her in return.  “Thanks, Sam” she said quietly, her head hidden against his chest.

“Hey” he said, pulling back so he could see her face.  When she kept her face hidden against him he gently reached out a hand and tipped her head back.  Her brown eyes were soft and emotional and Sam gently stroked her face.  “I like you being here” he said, his own voice sounding a bit choked up.  And God, he really did.  He loved seeing her next to him when he woke up in the morning and loved falling asleep with her at night.  The bathroom counter had a jumble of her makeup on it now and it smelled of the perfume she always wore (Some exotic spicy flower was how Sam would have described it if asked.) and instead of being annoyed he enjoyed it.  He liked that her things left a visible presence in his room.  Lily hadn't brought much with her when she came but she'd left her mark here and Sam loved every bit of it.  "Anything you need…we’ll work it out, OK?”

Lily nodded, then reached up and kissed him.  Her lips were soft and gentle, more emotion than passion, which was different than Lily’s norm.  “OK” was all she said though.

Sam smiled and turned to the door then and watched Lily happily start unpacking her clothes and sorting them out.  He congratulated himself on making Lily happy when she very obviously hadn’t been and headed back to the library.

Lily put some music on while she started sorting out her clothes.  She was humming softly to herself, happier than she would like to admit about Sam's gesture of the dresser.  She bit her lip as she started folding a stack of t-shirts and putting them in a drawer.  She honestly had never imagined anything like this happening with her and Sam.  Somehow they had gone from a hookup to her moving into his room.  He'd made himself right at home in her heart and she wasn't sure how that had happened.  Her first clue had been when they had started talking more and more about their day to day lives when they were together, instead of just ripping each other’s clothes off and trying to fit in as many orgasms as possible.  They’d always talked and she’d always liked Sam but she’d found herself looking forward to talking to him more and more.  And then they started texting each other several times a day about ordinary things.  Sam would gripe about a job or Dean and Lily would tell him about her sisters and silly or annoying stuff that happened to her.  Honestly it had probably changed awhile ago, a few months back at least, but it became certain for Lily when all this chaos with the prophecy had happened and Rose had been such a mess.  Seeing how badly Rose was affected by it had really upset Lily but she hadn’t wanted everyone to see that.  Sam had been who she wanted to talk to about it.  He had been her comfort, the person she leaned on.  He'd never once made her feel like a burden, never made her feel weak for how upset she was.  If anything he had babied her, letting her fall apart in private where no one else had to know.  When you're the oldest daughter who also happens to be called a warrior in a prophecy babying isn't something you tend to get a lot of.  Lily was so used to being the one in charge, the one who looked out for everyone else that it was a refreshing change not to have to be that person for a change.  With Sam, when it was just the two of them, she could let her guard down.

One drawer filled she moved onto the next, spreading her clothes into different piles on the bed.  Their bed, she thought with a smile.  And the memories they had on this bed already were amazing.  Lily tended to intimidate guys. Oh the idea of a strong, self assured woman who liked sex sounded great until they actually had that.  Then they expected her to be quiet and demure, blushing and shy. Lily had no idea how to be any of those things and she had no interest in learning.  Sam liked that she was sexual and confident.  He liked her for who she was.  She didn't feel like she had to tone down her personality to make him comfortable, which was a nice change.

Having gotten her clothes into the dresser she moved onto getting her shoes into the closet.  (Sam had made space for her hanging clothes days ago so that was already taken care of.). Lily loved shoes and had brought quite a few pairs with her.  She started arranging them neatly, next to Sam's few pairs and smiled, seeing her shoes next to his, her clothes next to his made her happy.  She liked it here, she really did.  From the moment she had stepped in the doors she had felt comfortable.  She loved how at home she felt here.  She was sure some of that was Sams presence but it was also this place.  The bunker felt safe, it felt like the right place for her to be.  She frowned slightly at that thought.  Lily tended to go by facts more than feelings but this one felt incredibly strong.  She felt like she belonged here.  Though if she were staying here much longer (Which she admitted to herself, she hoped she was) she would need to make a trip back to Hastings to get some more of her stuff.  She’d have to talk to Sam about that.  She stashed her empty bag into a corner of the closet and took a quick look around.  Satisfied with what she saw she headed toward Rose's room to feed Sookie.

Sookie greeted her when she entered the room, leading Lily happily to her bowl. She fed Sookie, gave her some scratches under her chin and then stood in the doorway wishing Rose was here.  Yes, she missed her sister but even more than that she was worried about her.  The latest prophecy details Sam had found had sounded really bad.  Rose was so much safer here at the bunker than out somewhere with Dean, where nobody knew where they were.  She kept reminding herself that Dean would keep her safe, was repeating that in her head like a mantra but it was hard to let go of her fear.  She knew she wouldn't be completely comfortable again until Rose was back at the bunker.

Closing the door behind her she went to see what Sam and Charlie wanted to do about dinner.

* * *

Rose stretched, feeling all the muscles in her back groaning in protest.  She'd slept for a little over two hours and was now wide awake.  Dean was sound asleep but she was hoping she could wake him and convince him to try out the bathtub with her.

"Dean" she said, stroking his face softly.  "Wake up, Sweetie."  No response.

She reached up, brushing her lips against his and wrapping her arms around his neck.  She stroked the back of his neck softly, dragging her fingers up into his hair.  Slowly his eyes fluttered open.  She smiled when she saw that.  "Let's go take a bath" she said, her excitement clear in her voice.

Dean blinked at her dazedly, his brain still in sleep mode.  All his mind was registering was Rose’s lips and that they were close to his and he instinctively reached out, pulling her lips to his, wanting more.  Rose responded immediately, their lips melding against each others, parting and letting their tongues intertwine.  Dean’s woke up more thoroughly as the kiss went on, the words she had said to him slowly drifting in.  A bath, she’d said something about a bath.

Finally he pulled back and looked at her saying "Why are we taking a bath?"

"Because that bathtub is glorious" Rose said.  "And you said we would" she reminded him.

Dean nodded, smiling at her excitement over a bathtub.  “You go get the water running and get in.  I’m gonna go grab us a drink.”

Rose nodded, and smiling she got up and headed to the bathroom.  He watched her the whole way, a big grin on his face.  She stopped at the doorway and grinned back at him over her shoulder.  “Don’t be long.”

“Oh trust me, I won’t be” he said, winking at her as she closed the door.

Dean slipped his jeans on and headed downstairs.  He double checked all the doors and windows as was his habit then went to the kitchen to grab them both drinks.  By the time he came back upstairs he walked into a warm, steamy bathroom.  Rose was already in the tub amidst a mountain of bubbles, her hair up in a clip and she smiled at him happily.  “Do you think we can steal this and take it back with us?” she asked.

Dean laughed, handing her drink to her and then slipping his jeans off.  She smiled, took a sip and set it down on the side of the tub.  “Something tells me that would be noticed” he said, slipping into the tub across from her, sitting his drink down on the edge and stretching his legs out on either side of her.  She looked relaxed and happy and he smiled at her, happily stroking her legs when she draped them over his.

“It’s a shame.  This is a wonderful bathtub.”  She gave a happy sigh.  "I love baths.”

Dean poked a finger at a mound of bubbles.  “I’ve never taken a bubble bath before" he admitted.  "This is a first for me."

“It’s kind of a weekend of firsts, isn’t it?” Rose said a soft note in her voice and Dean looked up to meet her eyes.

“It definitely is” he said, smiling right back at her.  One of his hands was stroking one of her legs lazily, his hand making leisurely trips up and down.  “I have one complaint about this bathtub by the way.”

“You do?” Rose asked in a surprise.

“Ya, it’s too damn big.  I didn’t plan on taking a bath with you so I could stare at you half way across the room.  Come here, beautiful.” He reached out and drug her over to him and Rose giggled and let him pull her over and set her on his lap.  Her legs automatically went on either side of his hips and she let out a little gasp when she felt his hard cock rubbing against her.  “That’s better” he said with a wicked grin, settling his hands on her hips. 

Rose ran her hands over Dean’s chest, her fingers touching him softly, sliding easily over his skin, the bath water making him slick to the touch.  Dean leaned forward, his tongue slipping out to lick at her neck and Rose let out a little moan.  With a grin Dean leaned down, pushing her up a little till his mouth was at the perfect level to take one of her nipples into his mouth.  He drug his teeth over it softly, getting a loud groan from Rose and then sucked it lightly.  He moved a hand to caress her other breast, his fingers gently stroking then softly tugging at the nipple.  Rose was moving against him now and making soft little noises in her throat.  He swore she had to be the most responsive person ever.  Just watching her come apart at the slightest touch from him was such a turn on.  He could watch her face while he touched her all day long.  Pulling his mouth off her breast he moved his mouth to her ear, talking softly, his voice husky as he moved a hand down to stroke between her legs.  He slipped one finger inside her, gently stroking as he said lowly “Are you that desperate for me again already, Baby?”  She let out a moan and whether it was from his words or the second finger he had slipped inside her he couldn’t be sure.  “It was only a few hours ago I was buried deep inside you, Sweetheart.”  His thumb brushed over her clit and she let out a whimper.  “I would have thought that would be-“

Rose cut him off effectively by slamming her mouth down onto his and kissing him hard.  She all but attacked his mouth, biting at his lower lip till he parted his lips and then she was desperately sucking on his tongue till Dean was moaning into her mouth.  She put her hands on both sides of his face and was kissing him for all she was worth.  Any thoughts of teasing her, of trying to draw this out went out the window then and there.  Both his hands wrapped around her, pulling her tightly against him, needing to feel her against him.  Only a few hours ago or not he was suddenly desperate for her again, this fire between them burning hotter than ever.

Rose pulled her mouth back from his, her eyes looking dazed and full of need.  Both their breathing was labored and Dean was sure his eyes probably looked as lust drunk as hers.  “Now” she said and Dean gave a small nod of his head and she was lifting herself up and lowering herself onto his cock and they both groaned at the feeling.  Rose’s head fell forward, her forehead resting against his.  “Oh God, you feel…” She didn’t finish the sentence, settling her lips against his again and kissing him deeply as her hips started moving.  Dean groaned into her mouth, loving the feel of her sliding over him.  He was content to sit back and let her take the lead, enjoying the aggressive side of Rose, her impatience, her need for him.  Dean’s hands tangled in her hair, the clip that was holding it up coming loose and falling somewhere into the water, causing her hair to spill down around his hands.  His lips tasted hers hungrily as his tongue swirled and danced with hers.  She had set a slow, hard rhythm with her hips, each thrust down deep and hungry.  Her lips were devouring his, desperate for him and the taste of him and her mind was a swirl of need, overwhelmed by this hunger she had for him.  Her fingers were dragging over his shoulders, moving to entwine in his hair as her hips kept up their pace.  Dean moaned into her mouth and finally unable to hold back he started snapping his hips up to meet her thrusts.  That drug a loud groan from Rose and she pulled her mouth from his, throwing her head back as she felt ripples of pleasure starting to build up.  Dean immediately attached his mouth to her neck, finding that spot that drove her crazy and sucking hard, his hands moving to splay across her back.  Her hips were moving faster now and Dean was matching her thrust for thrust.    “Oh God, Dean” she moaned and Dean matched her moan with one of his own, feeling her nails digging into his shoulders.  One more hard thrust tipped Rose over the edge and she came with a long, loud moan that felt like it lasted forever.  Dean thrust up into her hard a few more times before he came with a hoarse shout.  Rose slumped against him and they stayed like that for a few minutes, exhausted and happy.  Rose gave him a smile and Dean returned it, pulling her lips to his, for a softer, sweeter kiss than the ones exchanged during their desperate coupling.

“God, you make me crazy” Dean said, looking into her eyes.

Rose laughed.  “Ya, I know what you mean.”  She kissed him gently, her hands stroking his face.  Her eyes were staring into his green ones, loving the look of contentment she saw there.  _You did that_ a small voice whispered and she couldn’t deny the feeling of pride that gave her.

“OK Princess, time to get out.  Water’s getting cold.”  Dean patted her bottom before setting her on her feet.  They got out and wrapped themselves in big, plush towels.  Dean smiled at her.  “So I think I’m going to go ahead and mark bubble baths as a success in my book” he said and Rose laughed.

“See, stick with me, Dean Winchester.  There’s no telling what else you’ll learn.”  And with a wink Rose left the bathroom.

“Oh of that, I have no doubt, Rosie” Dean said softly before following her out.

* * *

Back at the bunker Sam had suggested they go out for a late dinner.  He knew Lily was getting a little stir crazy and he definitely could use a break.  Charlie was getting visibly frustrated that it was taking her so long to get the websites open to them.  He had complete faith she would get into them soon and figured a break would do her good.

He drove them all to Dempsey’s, a local pub that stayed open late and made great burgers.  They got seated right away and all ordered burgers and fries.  Once their beers had arrived Sam brought up the tattoo idea, explaining about meeting Dean and Rose on Saturday night if Lily was good with the idea.  Lily nodded, easily agreeing to it.  She already had one tattoo, what was one more?

“Ya know, it probably wouldn’t be a bad idea for you to get one too, Charlie.  You spend enough time around all this stuff, an extra precaution wouldn’t hurt” Sam said, taking a sip of his beer.

Charlie nodded, OK with the idea as well.  Lily was looking at Sam intently and he could see the wheels turning in her head.  “What about Daisy?” she asked.  “She needs to be protected too.”

“I’m going to call her, or I don’t know, maybe go over there tomorrow and talk to her” Sam said, running a hand through his hair, really not looking forward to either prospect.

“I should go” Lily said firmly.  “Tomorrow afternoon, I’ll go over and talk to her.  We can work out the crap from the library and I’ll explain about the tattoo.”

“You sure?” Sam asked, secretly relieved at not having to deal with Daisy.  Usually Sam was really fond of her but she wasn’t his favorite person to be around right now.  Lily nodded and Sam said “I can drive you over tomorrow.”

“I have my own car, Sam.  I can drive myself.” Sam frowned, deciding to talk to Lily about that later. 

Their food arrived then and they all dug in, enjoying the tasty burgers and fries.  After they had taken a few bites Lily spoke up, mentioning to Sam the need to make a trip back to Hastings at some point for more of her clothes and belongings.  Sam chewed on his burger thoughtfully.  "Ya, the whole exit didn't go quite as smoothly as we planned."

"Demons showed up as we were packing" Lily explained, seeing Charlie's curious look.  "Didn't exactly make getting enough clothes the highest priority."  Lily swallowed a fry then looked at Sam.  "It's been quiet since then though, huh?"

"Ya I think we got you guys out of there quickly enough and you’ve all kept a low profile so no one seemed to figure out where you all went."  It occurred to Sam that he and Dean might need to get out and work a job, just to keep up appearances, keep things looking as normal as possible.  He had a feeling that idea wouldn’t go over well with Dean though.    

"Oh we should all do a road trip to Hastings!" Charlie said, looking excited at the prospect.

"Let’s wait till Dean and Rose get back and we get the spell lifted off of Erin" Sam said cautiously, wanting to get a handle on Charlie's excitement now.  He's seen Lily's eyes light up at the prospect as well and wanted to get this idea off the table for the moment.  "More beers?"  At Charlie and Lily's nod Sam got up and headed for the bar.  The place had gotten busier since they came in and he knew they would wait forever to get more drinks if he didn’t just go get them.

Lily watched Sam walk away, a wicked grin on her face, her eyes drinking him in.  Charlie followed Lily's eyes and couldn't surprise her giggle.  Lily shrugged at being caught ogling her boyfriend.  "What can I say?  He has a great ass."

"You've really known him since he was a little kid?" Charlie asked.

Lily nodded.  "Since he was a baby.  Hard to believe, huh?"  She grinned at Charlie.  "You should see some of the pictures we have at our house.  My parents were big picture takers.  We've got so many pictures of Sam and Dean it's ridiculous.  I could make a fortune blackmailing Dean with some of them but Rosie would kill me."

Charlie laughed, thinking it was worth a road trip just to see the pictures.  

* * *

Rose and Dean had fallen asleep again after their time in the bathtub, this time under the sheet and blankets.  Rose woke up this time to the feel of Dean’s lips on the back of her neck.  “Rosie, wake up, Baby.”

“What time is it?” Rose asked, sleepily. 

“A little after two.”  Dean slid his hands over her back, his lips following the same path as his hands, kissing their way down her spine.  When he got to her bottom he stopped, tugging the sheets back and studying her.  Rose had a moment of déjà vu.  Except Dean had already looked at her bottom this time and knew she had marks.  They’d even discussed them.  She was about to point this out to him when he said “Be right back, don’t move” and before Rose could turn around he had disappeared into the bathroom.  He came back a minute later with a tube of something in his hand and a broad grin on his face.

“You are the strangest man sometimes” Rose said, an amused tone to her voice.  Despite having no idea  what he was doing Rose lay there, her chin resting on her folded arms, trusting Dean with whatever he was planning.  That knowledge hit Dean as he stood by the side of the bed and he felt that warm feeling in his chest again.  She trusted him so much; the last thing he would ever want was to let her down.

Taking a deep breath and pushing those serious thoughts away for now Dean waved the tube at her as he climbed onto the bed.  “It’s arnica cream.  It helps with bruising.”  Dean squeezed some of the cream onto his fingers and then spread it onto her bottom, rubbing it in.  Rose wiggled at the cold cream soothed her skin.  “Figure we need to get you healed up before we add any more marks to your bottom” he said with a grin and Rose smiled at him over her shoulder.  That statement definitely held intriguing possibilities for the future. 

Finishing up Dean headed back into the bathroom to put the tube up and came back in and Rose noticed he had pulled his jeans back on.  “I’m hungry.  Do you want something to eat?”

Rose nodded, realizing she was hungry.  She hadn’t eaten much at dinner, too distracted to be hungry and they’d burned off a lot of calories since then.  “Let me put some clothes on” Rose said and Dean nodded heading down the stairs.

“You don’t have to put on too much” he called back and Rose grinned.  She got up, digging into her bag and pulling out some panties to slip on and was going to put on the sleepshirt she brought with her when she caught sight of the white button down Dean had worn to dinner, thrown over the arm of the love seat.  With a mischievous grin she pulled it on, buttoning it up.  It smelled like Dean and that made her shiver.   His fingers smoothing cream over her bottom had caused her body to heat up all over again.  She swore she was worse than a hormonal teenager around him.  His shirt covered her up as thoroughly as anything else she slept in but there was something so sexy about wearing Dean’s shirt and she knew from his reaction the last time she had put one of his shirts on that it got to him too.   She had to admit she found the possessive side of Dean a big turn on.

Rose padded down the steps, heading to the kitchen, finding Dean at the refrigerator with his back to her.  She walked up behind him, slipping her arms around his waist and resting her head between his shoulders.  She placed a few small kisses on his back and pressed herself against him. 

Dean grinned and started to ask her what she wanted to eat.  But then her hands started stroking up to his chest and moving down to his thighs, her hands just skimming over him, teasing.  “Rosie” he said, with a growl, letting the refrigerator door swing shut and turning around to face her.  “We need to eat something…”

His words trailed off when he saw her standing there in his shirt, her hair a tousled mess and a deceptively innocent smile on her lips.  “Oh you are a naughty girl” he said, grinning at her and stalking towards her.  Rose backed away from him slowly, the same innocent but sexy smile on her lips. 

“Why Dean I don’t know what you mean...” she said, finding her back suddenly up against the counter and Dean’s arms on either side of her, effectively trapping her there.  She looked up at him, her eyes as big and innocent as a kittens’. 

“Rosie, Rosie, Rosie” Dean said, shaking his head at her.  “You’re just begging for a spanking aren’t you?  We’re supposed to be getting food and here you come down here in my shirt, knowing what that does to me.”

“What does it do to you, Dean?” Rose purred all traces of innocence gone in a flash.  She trailed her hands up his chest, wrapping them around his neck and pushing herself up against him.  Dean groaned, feeling her breasts rubbing against his chest through the fabric of his shirt. Rose leaned up so her lips were inches from his, her breath ghosting over his lips.  “Good things?”

Oh two could play that game, Dean thought.  His hands moved from the counter to her hair, threading in the strands and tugging, pulling her head back.  “It makes me want to show you how much you belong to me” he growled, his mouth next to her ear.  He felt a shiver go through her at his words and he grinned, moving his mouth down to nip at her neck, pulling a whimper from her.  “It makes me want to lay you over this counter and spank your sweet little ass till it’s covered in my handprints.”  Her hips were grinding up against his and he had to grin.  Who knew sweet little Rosie would get off on dirty talk?  He absolutely loved it.  He couldn’t resist kissing that luscious little mouth of hers, quick and teasing, leaving her gasping for more, before finishing with “It makes me want to bend you over and fuck you till you can’t see straight and you’re screaming my name.  It drives me absolutely crazy, seeing you in my shirt.  That clear enough for you, Baby?”

He pulled his head back and Rose’s eyes were dark with lust, her face flushed and her breathing heavy.  She licked her lips and met his eyes and said “Ya, that, that all sounds good.  Let’s do that.”

Dean threw his head back and laughed.  Leave it to Rose to take his words as a plan.  “You are insatiable” he said, leaning down and kissing her quickly.  Before she could respond to the kiss he pulled back, earning a pout from Rose.  “A few problems with that plan, Rosie.”  He lifted her up and sat her on the counter and she winced.  “You’re way too sore for another spanking, Baby.”  She opened her mouth to protest and he put a finger to her lips.  “Nope, I’m the decision maker on this.  No arguments.  I have no problem marking up that gorgeous ass of yours, Baby.  Hell, I enjoy it.”  He winked at her and she gave in and smiled.  “But the marks that are there now need to heal up first.”  He wrapped his arms around her, placing his large hands over her bottom.  “I take care of what’s mine, Rosie, remember?”  That got a soft smile from her and Dean rested his forehead against hers, smiling down at her.  

“So what’s the other problem?” Rose asked.  “’Cause the rest of the plan sounded pretty amazing.”  She wrapped her arms around his neck and grinned up at him.  Dean had a sudden realization of how very hard Rose was going to be to say no to about anything.   Why should things be any different now?  She had been able to get her way with him their whole lives.

“We need to eat something, Baby” Dean said.  “We’ve used up quite a bit of energy in the last few hours, you know.”

“But Dean” Rose said, plaintively, “I’m not all that hungry.”  Dean grinned inwardly, thinking how much fun the two of them were going to have, playing and teasing each other. 

Outwardly however he gave her his sternest look.  “Eat first and then we’ll see” he said.

With a much put upon look, Rose sighed and nodded, adding a soft whine of “Bossy.”  Dean patted her bottom, didn’t respond to the bossy comment and told her to stay put on the counter while he worked on getting them some food.  Turning back Dean opened the cabinets, seeing what they had. 

“You know, we have all day tomorrow too, Rosie.  I should probably take you back still able to walk” Dean said, throwing her a grin over his shoulder. 

“Eh, walking, who cares about that” Rose said with a giggle.

“My girlfriend’s a sex fiend” Dean muttered.

“Is that a complaint?” Rose asked, then seeing something over his shoulder she exclaimed “Oh peanut butter!”

“Peanut butter sandwiches it is” Dean said, pulling the jar out and grabbing the loaf of bread as well.  “Want jelly?” and Rose nodded so Dean pulled out the jar of strawberry jelly and set to making the sandwiches.   He poured himself a glass of milk and Rose a glass of juice and brought it all over to her. Rose took the sandwich with a word of thanks and started eating, digging in heartily for someone who wasn’t all that hungry, Dean noted.

“And no, that’s not a complaint, by the way” Dean said, returning to her question.  “Just kind of a new situation for me to be the voice of reason” he chuckled.

“Another addition to our night of firsts” Rose said with a grin and Dean returned her grin. 

Having finished his sandwich and seeing Rose was done with hers, Dean reached out and wrapped a finger around a lock of Rose’s hair.  “Good girl, Rosie” he said, earning himself a beaming smile.  “And for the record, I’m keeping track of all those little naughty moments of yours and we’ll deal with them later.”

“In your naughty book?” Rose asked with a grin, looking not the least bit repentant.

“Exactly” Dean said, winking at her as her cleared their plates and glasses away.  Turning back and coming over to her he said “And now, as you were such a good girl how about we see what we can do to reward that behavior?” 

“Oh right here?” Rose asked eagerly, wrapping her arms around his neck. 

“I think that can be arranged” Dean said, with a grin.

As it turned out Rose and Dean both had several more “rewards” that night, on the kitchen counter and back in the bedroom upstairs as well.  The sun was just peaking over the horizon when Rose and Dean finally fell soundly asleep, this time to stay that way for several long restful hours. 


	44. Everybody's So Tired of the Drama

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In which Charlie and Sam get their gossip girls on.

Sam was currently staring at the back of Lily’s head, trying to remind himself that killing her would be wrong.  He cared about this woman, had ever deepening feelings for her.  Killing her would be a bad thing.  Right, just remember that, he told himself.  She had her back turned to him as she pulled on her jeans and was studiously ignoring him, something she had been doing for the last five minutes.

“Lily, be reasonable” Sam tried again.  Well that at least got a reaction from her as she whirled around to glare at him, her eyes shooting daggers at him.  Sam vaguely noticed her shirt said "Nope" in large, bold letters and it seemed to sum up her mood today perfectly.  She wasn’t listening to anything he said.  All this had started over Sam mentioning he wanted to drive her to see Daisy.  He thought it would be safer than her driving herself.  She seemed to take his comments as a personal affront to both her driving and overall competency.  Her back had stiffened immediately and she had been stalking around their room, getting dressed in angry, jerky movements every since then, with a lot of angry, very loud comments thrown in.

“Reasonable?  You want me to be reasonable?  Why don’t you try it yourself first?”  She stalked over to the bed and sat down to pull her boots on.  “I am not a child!  You can’t just lock me away somewhere to keep me safe.”  Sam had to bite his tongue to keep from pointing out that’s exactly what Lily had wanted to do with her sister just yesterday.

Sam ran his hand through his hair, trying to think of how to fix this, how to get Lily to listen to reason.  Easier said than done.  “I don’t want to lock you away, Lil.”  Well OK, at this precise moment that was in fact a lie.  Sam was trying to decide if he could actually lock Lily in the dungeon without her killing him, either after or in the process.  Too risky he decided.  Lily held grudges and she would most definitely want revenge.  "I just want you to be safe.  What harm would it do to let me drive you-“

“I can drive myself!”  Lily was on her feet now, stalking towards her dresser, the dresser that just yesterday Sam had put in here when he didn’t want to kill her.  She grabbed earrings off the top of said dresser and jabbed them in her ears so hard that Sam was afraid he’d see blood spurting out any minute.   “Up until two weeks ago I drove myself all over the damn country.  Sometimes even out of state all by myself to meet you.”  Having put her earrings in with no blood loss Lily stalked off to the bathroom, where she drug a brush through her hair in quick, angry strokes.  “Believe it or not, Sam, I’ve been taking care of myself for a long time now.  I know how to handle myself.”

“I know that, Lily.” Sam gritted his teeth, trying to keep his anger in check.  Losing it and yelling back at her wouldn’t do any good…though it would certainly feel good at the moment.  Sam was quickly losing his patience.  “I’m not saying you can’t handle yourself.  I’m just saying I think it would be safer if you-“

“Well I don’t think it would be” Lily cut him off angrily, coming to stand in the bathroom door and glare at him, her hands on her hips.  “I can get around by myself perfectly well.  I don’t need a fucking body guard.”

“If you’d let me finish a damn sentence, Lily, I could explain!” Sam felt his temper bubbling over now and from the flash of Lily’s eyes he knew she wasn’t reining in her temper anytime soon.  He took a deep breath, praying for self control.  “If you drive over to see Daisy don’t you think she’s going to want to go out?  I know you two; you’ll end up going out for lunch somewhere because she’ll want to.  You’ll feel bad because you fought and you’ll give in and take her out.  Right?”  Lily nodded her head, grudgingly admitting this was a likely scenario.  “If something happens when you’re out, I'm not saying you can't handle it" he added quickly before she could argue.  "But not only is there a chance you or Daisy could be hurt, but you’ll be drawing attention to where you are.  As far as we know right now the demon world doesn’t know that you and your sisters are holed up here.  All it would take is one incident, one demon seeing you girls and that information would be out there. We brought you girls here to keep that from happening.”  Sam kept going when Lily tried to cut him off this time, determined to make his point and be done with it.  “We don’t know what they know right now.  This is a better safe than sorry situation, Lily, not just for your safety but for your sisters.”  Sam could see Lily thinking this over.  There was nothing she wouldn’t do for her sisters and Sam knew that.  He was banking on it in fact.  He let her think about it while he pulled his own shoes on, seeing the gears turning in her head.  Finally, with a loud sigh she came and sat down on the bed next to him.

“OK” she said quietly.

Sam raised an eyebrow.  “OK?” he asked.

Lily waved her hand expansively.  “OK, I see you’re point.  You can drive me.”

Reaching an arm out Sam snagged Lily around the waist and pulled her up against his side.  "I’m not trying to be controlling, Lil, I swear.  I’m just trying to keep you all safe.”

Lily scowled at him and then admitted “I know that.  But I’m not used to being told I can’t do things.”  She frowned, resting a hand on Sam’s leg and he could feel her flexing her fingers agitatedly.  “Sam, I’ve been in charge of everything in my life for a long time now.  This whole, having to run things by someone else is weird.  I don’t like it.”

He squeezed her waist sympathetically.  “I know, Lil.  And I hate being the bad guy here, I really do.  But I'd rather you be mad at me than take a chance with you or your sisters lives."

Lily sighed again, leaning her head back against his shoulder and Sam smiled, knowing the storm had passed.  "You always have to be so damn logical" she grumbled.

Sam laughed and kissed the top of her head.  "Yep, it’s one of my worst qualities."

* * *

Sam and Lily made a stop at the drive thru at Starbucks on the way.  Sam had the joy of ordering a Double Chocolate Chip Frappucino for the first time in his life, plus a peach tea for Erin, regular coffee for him, Bobby and Lily.  He got Charlie a vanilla late with an extra espresso shot to take back with him.

"She and Daisy are as bad as Rose with their weird sweet fake coffee drinks" Lily grumbled and Sam had to grin.  Lily had very strong opinions about coffee.

Sam had called Bobby earlier to say he was bringing Lily by so they were expecting them.  Daisy took her coffee from Lily with a smile and Sam knew they would work it out.  He was surprised at Erin's appearance though when he handed her tea to her.  Her eyes were glassy and unfocused and she barely seemed to register anyone's presence.  Sam looked at Bobby questioningly and he inclined his head towards the door, obviously wanting a word with him outside.

Sam told Lily if he didn't hear from her he'd pick her up about 6.  "Don't go anywhere else.  Promise?"  Lily made a face but she nodded.  Sam kissed her goodbye then headed outside with Bobby.

"What's going on with Erin, Bobby?  She looks like someone drugged her" Sam said.

"That's because I did" Bobby said, his agitation showing in his voice.  "The last few days she's gotten nervous and twitchy.  I’ve had to talk her out of going to find Rose so she can make her give Daisy back her power more times than I can count.  When I had to start physically holding her back I had no choice but to give her something to calm her down.”

“Aw Shit, Bobby, I’m sorry” Sam said.  They had all been pretty wrapped up in their own dramas and Erin had seemed OK the last time he and Dean had seen her.

Bobby just nodded.  “I think whoever put the spell must be amping it up, either mad they’re not getting results or figuring we’re trying to get rid of it.  The sooner we get rid of this damn spell the better.”

“Ya, no argument there” Sam agreed.

“Dean and Rose still away?” Bobby asked with a little grin and Sam laughed.

“Ya, they’re coming back tomorrow night” Sam said, returning the grin.

“He’s got it bad for her” Bobby said, shaking his head and looking happy about it.

“Like you wouldn’t believe” Sam said.  “I told Lily I’ll be back at six to get her.”  Sam hesitated then added “Don’t let the girls go anywhere else.”  Bobby looked at him curiously and Sam shrugged.  “I’m probably being overly cautious but I would just rather they didn’t go out together.  Keep a low profile and all.”

Bobby nodded and Sam got back into his car and drove off with a wave.  He knew he might just be worrying about nothing but he couldn’t help the anxious feeling he had.  As soon as Lily had mentioned going out on her own last night he’d felt it.  He wasn’t sure if it was because the spell removal was coming up, because of the darker prophecies they’d found or what but he had felt on edge as soon as Lily had mentioned the possibility of driving herself.  _Couldn’t be because she owns more and more of your heart every day, could it Sammy?_ A small voice (That sounded surprisingly like Dean) asked and Sam acknowledged to himself that, yes that could be part of it.  But whatever it was Sam had learned over the years to listen to his instincts and right now his instincts were telling him to be cautious, to be protective and keep these women safe, no matter what.  If he was being overprotective so be it.  It beat the alternative.

* * *

Sam was greeted by a cheerful Charlie when he got back to the bunker, her eyes lighting up when she saw the Starbucks cup he brought her.

“Oh bless you.  You are a saint.”  Charlie took a sip and rolled her eyes in ecstasy.

Sam laughed, taking a seat across from Charlie in the library.  “I think Lily would disagree with you this morning.”  Charlie looked curious and Sam explained.  Instead of agreeing with him as Sam assumed she would Charlie frowned at him.  She put her cup down, fixing Sam with a serious look.

“Oh Sam, I had such hopes I wouldn’t have to give you the same talk I gave your brother.  But then again, you are both Winchesters.”  Charlie sighed and in a patient voice said “You guys both chose women with minds to get involved with, not vapid little Barbie dolls.  Thankfully, because I just don’t think I could have taken that.”  Sam couldn’t help but grin at that.  “Anyway, that means you don’t get to boss them around, no matter how much your alpha male mentality says you should.”  Sam opened his mouth to argue and Charlie raised a hand.  “If I came and started reorganizing every book in here because I knew how it should be organized you would freak, right?”  Sam nodded suspiciously.  “But if I came to you and said “Sam, you have such a wonderful selection of books in the library.  Have you ever thought about organizing them this way to make it easier to find what you're looking for?" Well then you just might listen to me.”

“You think the books are organized wrong?” Sam asked with a confused look and Charlie rolled her eyes.

“God, no.  I would have told you that ages ago.”  Charlie looked at him curiously.  “So how did you get Lily to agree?”

“I explained what my concerns were.  Once she saw why I was worried she agreed.”

Charlie beamed at him.  “See?  That was good.  That’s what I’m trying to say.  You gave her the facts and let her decide.  Now maybe if you had started out that way you wouldn’t have had her yelling at you.”  At Sam’s look she nodded.  “Oh ya, I heard her.”  Sam winced.  Lily did have a strong set of lungs on her.  “Look, the point is you can’t just decide for her.  It’s a relationship, Sam.  You don’t own her.”

“I don’t want to own her!” Sam said, insulted that Charlie would think such a thing.  “I just want to keep her safe and she doesn’t always make the best choices.  She takes chances.”  Charlie gave him a disbelieving look that made Sam squirm.  He heard her mutter a comment about pots and kettles that he chose to ignore.  After a minute he asked “So you think me and Dean are what, cavemen?  Overbearing jerks who boss everyone around?”

“You’re not cavemen or jerks, Sam.”  Charlie looked at him seriously as the meaning behind her words sank in.  “Look, Sam, I love you both and you know I think you’re both amazing.  I get why you’re both so..” Charlie searched for the right word, settling on “Authoritative.”  And her word choice made Sam wince, way too accurate a word to describe his father, something he had never wanted to be. “You guys are both usually in situations where its life or death and you've saved more lives than I can even imagine.  Niceties and feelings go by the wayside in those settings and rightly so.  I mean trust me, a demon’s coming at me, I don’t want you to _ask_ me if I want help, I just want you to kill it.”  Sam grinned at that.  “But you can’t live your life like that and you can’t handle your relationships like that either.  And from the short time I’ve known Lily I can tell you that if you try, it will blow up in your face.  Loudly.”  Charlie paused and then added “And quite possibly with casualties.”

Sam grinned.  “Ya, she’s a force to be reckoned with when she’s angry.  One of the bits of prophecy Lily liked said the sisters all had fire in their hearts, that they’re bold and unyielding.  She pretty much epitomizes that.”

Charlie grimaced. “She’s pretty intimidating at first, I have to admit.”

“I guess she is.  I’ve known her so long that she’s just Lily to me.  Except when she’s angry and then she’s all sorts of scary.”  Charlie smiled at that.  “She’s always been this way, this force of nature that just does whatever she wants or thinks she should do.”  He chuckled and Charlie looked at him, knowing there was a story coming.  “We were visiting them when we were kids once.  I guess Dean and Rose were about eight.  We’re all playing outside with some neighborhood kids and this one girl starts to pick on Rose.  No idea why, you know kids, they don’t always need a reason.” Charlie nodded, knowing all about bullies.  “Anyway, this girl is maybe ten or so, obviously thinks she’s tough.  And I can see Dean wants to hall off and just knock the shit out of her, but my dad had drilled into us you didn't hit girls."  Charlie grinned, easily able to picture a pint sized Dean wanting to defend Rose, but not wanting to hit a girl.  What a dilemma.  "Before he even gets a chance to do anything Lily comes flying off the porch of the house and jumps on this kids back and just starts waling on her.  The rest of us are just kind of standing there in shock while Lily is just beating the shit out of her.  Her parents eventually came out to see what all the yelling was about and they had to literally drag Lily off of her." Sam stretched his legs out in front of him and grinned, obviously enjoying this story. “The kids bleeding and crying, her clothes are ripped and Lily’s just standing there, blood dripping from her nose where the girl elbowed her, looking proud of herself.  Her mom demanded to know why she did it and she just goes “She bothered my sister” and walks off.”  Sam chuckled again and Charlie joined in.  “That’s Lily.”

“She said there’s a ton of pictures of you guys as kids at her house.  I would kill to see those” Charlie said and Sam had to laugh at her excitement.

“Ya there’s a lot.  The Sullivan’s are big picture takers.  There’s a few around here too I’ll see if I can scrounge up and show you later.”  Charlie lit up at that and Sam chuckled again.  He was quiet a minute then said “Thanks, Charlie.  You gave me a lot to think about.”

“Always glad to offer my couple counseling services.”  Charlie smiled at him affectionately.  “I like seeing you guys both happy.”

“Me too” Sam said quietly.  Clearing his throat and changing the subject Sam asked “So how’s it coming with the websites?”

Charlie frowned.  “Well I’m trying something else today.  Keep your fingers crossed.”

Sam nodded.  After striking out on the rest of the books by Cecelia Kelly Sam planned on working on trying to decipher the prophecies they had found so far.  He settled down with his notebook and laptop while Charlie sat back with her laptop and they both quietly worked away for the next few hours.

Just before lunchtime Sam texted Lily to say see how things were going.  He got a quick response that things were going OK and Daisy was good with the tattoo plan.  So Sam called and got four appointments for eight o'clock Saturday night.  He texted Dean on the disposable phone to say the appointment was for 8, knowing Dean would check it Saturday morning as planned.

Lunchtime came and Sam popped a frozen pizza into the oven.  Munching on it Sam shared with Charlie what he had worked out so far.

“OK so a lot of the prophecies about Rose have to do with her not being isolated, keeping her bonds tight.  That fits; she’s the quietest one of the sisters, the most likely to keep things to herself.” Though Daisy sure was giving her a run for her money lately, Sam thought with a frown.  “I’m guessing the bonds are with her sisters, since they’re so close.”  Sam took a bite of pizza and swallowed before adding “About a week or so ago, Dean was a complete jerk to Rose.  Now Lily in that situation would have screamed, raised holy hell and pretty much thrown the whole place into chaos.  Probably punched me too.”  Charlie laughed at Sam’s calm acceptance of that fact. “Rose made everyone dinner, asked me to take Dean some food and then went to bed."  Charlie gave him an incredulous look and Sam nodded.  "That's one reason Lily calls her Saint Rose.  They’re total opposites in that way.  So ya, Rose isolating herself I can see as something we have to watch out for.”

Charlie nodded, swallowing a bite of pizza.  “I want to hear the Dean being a jerk story later.”  Sam grinned and nodded.  “The bonds could also be with you and Dean.  I mean you guys are close and she and Dean are certainly getting closer.  There’s years of history there between you all.”

“Good point” Sam said, wiping his hands and making a notation in his notebook.  He frowned and said “Obviously the parts about Rose’s life changing are pretty self explanatory.”  Charlie nodded.  At least a few parts of the prophecy were easy to decipher.

Sam chewed on a piece of pizza pensively then said “OK so there was a line about the sisters changing the world of the sword.  So the world of the sword is hunters.  So something about the prophecy will affect hunters and life as we know it."

Charlie stared at Sam thoughtfully, wondering how much she should share about what she was thinking.

"You guys are a pretty big deal in the hunting world right?" She asked casually.

"Ya, I mean, we're known.  Our dad was too.  There’s a legacy that goes with the name."

"So if you guys lives changed dramatically, it would affect things in the hunting world right?"  Charlie was toying with a pen now, obviously nervous to say what she was thinking. 

"Ya, I guess so" Sam said with a shrug, not sure what she was getting at.

"How normal has your life been the past two weeks?"  Charlie asked.  "How many jobs have you taken?"

"Well it's been quiet" Sam said.  "Not a lot of jobs coming in."

"And if there had been?  Would you have taken them?"

Sam was quite a moment then answered "Honestly?  No.  There's been too much going on here.  And there's no way Dean would have left Rose with what she's been going through."

"And you would have left Lily?" Charlie challenged.

"No, I wouldn't have."  Sam shook his head. 

"My point is things have changed for you guys already, causing ripples of change.  You don’t take a job, someone else does, even that’s a ripple.  Now whether that's a temporary thing or not?" Charlie shrugged.  "But if you and Dean are as serious as you seem to be about Lily and Rose?  I don't see things going back to the old normal.  I mean, don't get me wrong, you guys are hunters, that's in your DNA.  I don't see _that_ changing but if your regular everyday life changes then it's bound to affect hunting too."

Sam stared at Charlie, turning this new perspective over in his mind.  "Funny, I was just thinking last night that it might be a good idea for me and Dean to take a job just to make things look normal.  Ya know, keeping up appearances?  Now I’m thinking that may definitely be a good idea.  Only a small handful of people know the girls are here and I’d like to keep it that way, so keeping things looking as normal as possible may be a good idea."

Charlie nodded.  “Got anything else?”

Sam shook his head.  “Just the obvious.  “This spirit and fire will serve them well” obviously sounds like things are going to be rough and their fight and determination will get them through.  That’s no surprise really, knowing the girls and knowing how dark things sound.”  Sam frowned, saying “And there’s a lot of different references that make it sound like there will be people or demons or something trying to lead Rose down a dark road.”  He paused, adding “The gifted one was forged in love and love must be the guiding force to direct her steps.” “Well, Rose’s parents were most definitely in love, so that’s obvious.  And I think Rosie is probably one of the most loving people I know, so letting love guide her seems easy enough.”

Charlie nodded, hoping it was that easy.  These prophecies had a way of just blindsiding people and from the look on Sam’s face Charlie knew that he knew that better than she did.

* * *

Dean and Rose slept late, well past noon, their activities from the day before having worn them both out.  Dean woke before Rose, stretching his muscles out slowly, not wanting to wake her.  She was currently sprawled out on her stomach, her sleeping position of choice, still blissfully asleep.  Dean lay there, happy and content to watch her and take stock after yesterday.

Dean gave himself a mental high five.  He’d been patient, had done it all right for once and it had been well worth it.  True, there was still the whole prophecy drama going on which he supposed was technically an issue hanging over them but that looked to be a long term situation.  But last night there had been no distractions, no interruptions, just the two of them together, just like he'd wanted it.  And it had been amazing.  And God, Rose had just blown away any fantasies he had.  He stared at her sleeping face, so sweet and innocent looking.  She was as passionate a lover as he had ever had, so full of fire and emotion.  She was daring and adventurous and so sexy she may well be the death of him.  Dean grinned, feeling a few body aches from last night.  Rose was definitely going to be sore today.  They had damn near worn each other out.  He was glad he had insisted they eat.  They’d needed the extra energy.  Thinking over everything that happened yesterday Dean's mind went back to their emotional words to each other.  He frowned, mulling over the fact that they'd both just boldly stated they owned the others heart.  Hmm, surprisingly he was OK with it.  It was a declaration of their feelings, no doubt, but just like always it wasn't done in a typical fashion.  And it was the truth.  Dean has always known that when it came to Rose emotions would be involved.  It could never just be physical with them (Though they obviously excelled at that part, Dean thought with a grin.) there was too much between them.  He'd known that going into this.  And if a small part of Dean worried that he'd screw this up somehow, a larger part pointed out he'd done OK so far.  For today that last one was the voice he decided to listen to.

He looked down at Rose, who was still sound asleep.  "Baby, it's after twelve" he murmured near her ear.  She mumbled something incoherently and snuggled deeper under the blankets and closer to him, obviously having no desire to wake up.  Looking for something to do till Rose did wake up, but wanting to stay in bed with her he caught sight of a book at the top of her bag.  He eased out of bed, snagged the book and slid back under the covers.  Hmm, the title had the words French kiss in it.  How bad could it be?  Snuggling with Rose and playing with her hair lazily with one hand he cracked the book open and began to read.

* * *

Charlie was cursing at her laptop now, looking aggravated and Sam decided running some of his interpretations of the prophecy by her might be a good distraction.  And hey, she’d given him some good insight before.

“Hey Charlie, you mind listening to what I got and telling me what you think?”  Sam saw a flash of gratitude go across her face before she nodded and gave him her attention.

“So I think most of Daisy’s are pretty clear.  Um, “The dreamer will be guided by the hand of celestial beings” I’m guessing that’s Cas.  Though I’m not sure what “enhancing her sight, setting her future into motion” means.”

“Ya, what’s up with those two?” Charlie asked.  “Aside from that one night in the library I haven’t seen him at all this time.  And that was…interesting between them.”

“Your guess is as good as mine.”  Sam filled her in on Cas’ and Daisy’s reactions to each other and the vision she had pulled them into.  Then, taking a deep breath Sam shared with her the secretiveness between the two of them and how no one really knew what was going on with them.  “Then add in the fact that both Daisy and Cas completely shut down when I tried to ask them some questions.  Dean caught onto the fact that Daisy was lying, not telling the whole story about details about her dream with Cas and when I confronted her about it she swore to me she couldn’t tell me anything else and that Rose and Lily couldn’t know there was anything else going on for their safety.  I tried to get some information from Cas and he did exactly the same.”  Sam ran a hand through his hair.  “It’s a confusing mess.”

Charlie just stared at him for a minute.  “Wow, that’s just crazy.  I don’t even know what to say to that.”  She thought for a minute then added “But you have to admit, their reaction to each other?  It’s kind of romantic.”

Sam rolled his eyes.  “Charlie, they were both acting stupid, like speaking in crazy sentences stupid.  It was like watching an art house movie you know is supposed to have some deeper meaning but you're just not getting it.  That's what listening to the two of them together is like."  Sam considered for a minute.  “Come to think of it they seemed more normal in the library that night.  So maybe it’s wearing off.  Or I think they did at least.”  He shook his head.  “I was pretty drunk so it’s hard to remember.”

Charlie laughed.  “Ya you were pretty toasted, my friend.  Going back to the prophecy, maybe Cas somehow makes her visions clearer?  Or I don’t know, strengthens them?  I’m just thinking out loud here honestly.”

“Hey that’s more than I came up with” Sam said, making a note. 

“And maybe the part about him setting her future in motion, I don’t know, could it be because their future is together?” Charlie suggested hesitantly.

Sam frowned.  “Ya, I guess” he said, running a hand through his hair.  “I’m actually kind of surprised Rose and Lily haven’t cornered Daisy yet and asked her what’s going on with Cas.  I mean, even not knowing the extra bit we know, it’s obvious something is going on.  I guess it’s just been so crazy for everyone that’s just slipped under the radar.”  Sam made a note then continued.  “There’s a lot about Daisy needing wisdom and balance and no longer being a child.  Which ya, that’s gonna work really well with the way her sisters treat her.”  Sam closed his eyes then opened them again and said “OK that wasn’t really fair.  I’m just pissed at Daisy.”  Charlie gave him a sympathetic look and Sam continued. “Daisy’s the baby and they treat her like she’s about ten.”  He filled Charlie in on Lily’s reaction when Daisy said he had upset her by asking about Cas, which had Charlie in fits of giggles.  Sam just rolled his eyes at her and let her wear herself out.

Finally she was able to manage a straight face and said "Sorry, it’s just I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone call you Samuel before.” 

“That’s because no one does” Sam said with a little glare.

“Well except Lily” Charlie said.  Seeing Sam’s not amused face she got a serious look on her face.  “Right, sorry, OK what’s next?”

“Well we have the one about all three of them “The warrior must soften, the dreamer must show prudence and the gifted one must dare. All must walk on a different path than the one's they have chosen or all will fall.”  So Daisy needs prudence, thinking ahead, wisdom, ect.  We got that.  Rose needs to dare, not sure what that means.”  Sam took a deep breath and then said “And the warrior must soften.”  He was quiet then he said softly “God, I don’t want to do this.”

“Sam?” Charlie questioned, not sure what he meant.

“It’s just weird to try and decipher what a prophecy about Lily means.  It feels wrong somehow, like I’m, analyzing her or something.”

"So you know what?  Don't.  Let’s take a break.  I think we deserve it.  Everyone else is off doing other stuff.  You've got a lot done and I'm about to murder this damn laptop."  She gestured frustratedly at her computer.  "So entertain me.  How did you and Lily get together? I want to hear the story."

Sam grinned and leaned back in his chair, thankful for the reprieve.  "Oh so you're wanting details now, huh?" 

Charlie grinned and nodded, saying "In my role of adopted kid sister I think it's my right to be nosy" and Sam laughed and nodded saying "Fair enough. Hold on a second though."  He went over to the mini-fridge and grabbed them both a beer.  "We're taking a break so might as well do it right."  Charlie raised her bottle to him in silent thanks and then curled her legs up under her in her chair, her body language screaming gossip time.  Sam sat back down and got comfortable, stretching his legs out before starting.

"Well you're getting exclusive info here.  Dean doesn't know this.  I'm not sure if Rose or Daisy do.  Actually Rose probably does.  Lily tells her just about everything I think."  He frowned then and Charlie could tell the exact moment exactly what that meant hit him. "OK Ya I don't really want to think about that too much."  Charlie laughed as he shook his head and took a sip of his beer.  "This doesn't start out romantic at all, I'll warn you." Charlie smiled at Sam encouragingly.  "So as a teenager I had a crush on Lily.  Well actually probably before that.  Once puberty hit and I noticed girls as well...girls, she was pretty much my fantasy."

"I can see why" Charlie said quickly, seeing Sam's slight embarrassment.  "She's gorgeous."

Sam grinned proudly.  "Isn't she?"  Charlie nodded her head enthusiastically.  "I have no idea if she even knew I had a crush on her.” He’d have to ask her about that sometime, Sam thought. “Anyway, fast forward several years...all the way to just a little over two years ago.  We were at the Sullivan's house, stopping there after we had a job in Lincoln, like we usually did.  Lily had broken up with her boyfriend, or boy toy of the moment as Rose called him."  Charlie laughed at that, easily picturing it. "We were alone and she was griping to me about guys in general and how they couldn't keep up with her, thought she was too much to handle.  So I told her she was obviously with the wrong guys and maybe she should try someone different.  Someone like me." 

"Oh good line, Sam!" Charlie applauded.

Sam smiled.  "I kissed her, figuring she would either hit me or kiss me back.  I honestly wasn't sure what my odds were but I figured it was worth a shot."  Sam could remember that moment like it was yesterday. He and Lily had been in Rose's room, lying under the stars naturally.  They'd been on their own for once, Rose and Dean down in the kitchen.  Sam had no plans to try anything but when the opportunity presented itself he couldn't resist.  He'd leaned over Lily, looking into her eyes which looked curious, interested in what he was going to do, and he'd figured the worst it would get him was a black eye, at best a teenage fantasy fulfilled. 

"Luckily she kissed me back and I wound up spending the night in her room."

"So you started out as what?  Friends with benefits?"  Charlie asked curiously, taking a sip of beer.

Sam shrugged.  "Ya I guess, though we never labeled it as such.  Neither of us was looking for a relationship and it was nice to have someone to hook up with that we knew wasn't going to expect anything else.  And we had chemistry from the first kiss."  That was putting it mildly.  From the first second their lips touched it was like fire was coursing through their veins.  They'd kissed and made out like teenagers for several minute before Lily had pulled back and said "My room.  Now."  They'd barely made it to her room before they started stripping each other's clothes off.  Lily's body was strong, a fighters body and Sam had found it a pleasant change from the women he'd been with before.

"Did you know, I mean were you expecting it to end up in a relationship?” Charlie asked, curiously.  “After all you'd had a crush on her."

"Honestly I wasn't expecting anything.  I was hoping for a memorable night.” Sam looked at Charlie inquisitively.  “Come on, if you had the chance to spend a night with your teenage crush wouldn't you take it?" 

Charlie considered.  "Ya, probably."

"See?” Sam shrugged.  “Lily had a bad run of bad relationships just before this and I had a rough stretch of just…hard to handle stuff here."  Charlie thought back to two years ago, recalled what had been going on and winced.  "You know how when things are rough you need that one thing to look forward to, the one thing to take your mind off the shitty stuff?"  Charlie nodded, understanding perfectly what he meant.  "That's what we were for each other.  An escape.  It was purely physical.” Sam took a sip of beer.  “Until it wasn't."

"So what happened?” Charlie asked, honestly wanting to know. “When did it change?" 

"You realize Dean would say we're having a total chick flick moment here right?" Sam asked with a grin.

Charlie rolled her eyes and said "Ya well considering he just took off for the weekend with his girlfriend, such a stereotypical scene in a chick flick..I mean what, has he been watching Nicholas Sparks’s movies?  So he can shove it.  Now talk."

Sam laughed, realizing it felt good to tell someone all this.  Charlie wouldn't tease him about this.  In fact, she seemed thrilled by it all, which made her even better to talk to. 

"Well I can't answer for Lily and I suspect it changed for me before it did for her.  For a good year it was just sex.  We'd meet up fairly regularly, either at her house or somewhere in between here and Hastings."  And if anyone needed to know a hotel on highway 281 Sam could write a review for each and every single one.  He was pretty sure they had been to them all.  "About a year ago I realized that as great as the sex was it wasn't all I was looking forward to when we met up.  I liked talking to her.  She made me laugh when not much else could and I liked hearing her stories about what was going on in her life.  Somewhere along the way we started texting each other about more than just our next hook up and that became a daily thing." Sam took a sip of beer and then said "Lily is obsessed with shoes.  She worked at a shoe store for awhile and stayed friends with the owner after she quit so she still gets a discount.  Seriously, she brought what I'm sure is just a tiny bit of her shoes with her and it's taken over half of the closet.” Sam gave Charlie a serious look.  “Charlie, I couldn't care less about shoes.  I mean you wear them on your feet.  Aside from the fact that Lily looks great in high heels I don't need to know anything else.  But I would sit and listen to her ramble about shoes and I was happy."

"That is impressive" Charlie conceded, then added.  "And now I'm going to have to notice her shoes."

"She's wearing Jessica Simpson boots today."  Charlie raised an eyebrow at him and Sam shrugged, a faint blush staining his cheeks.  "You hear it often enough it sinks in.  I can name a fairly alarming amount of shoe designers now." Sam leaned forward and said menacingly "And if you ever tell Dean that fact…" He trailed off, the implied threat enough.

Charlie laughed.  "My lips are sealed."

"They better be.  Little sisters only get the gossip if it stays with them."  Charlie made a motion to indicate her lips were zippered shut and Sam smiled.  "One nice thing is I don't have to worry Lily’s going to freak out about my brother being too important to me.  I mean you've seen how she is with her sisters.  She's gets it."

Charlie understood that was a big deal. You didn't come between the Winchester boys and she had to assume you didn't come between the Sullivan girls either from what she’d seen.  So that worked out perfectly.

"So there you have it, how Lily and I got together.  Did it live up to your expectations?"

"Oh it far exceeded them.  You went in looking for a booty call and wound up with a live in girlfriend.  I like that twist."  Charlie stood up to get them each another beer and said "And for the record I stand by the comment I made to your brother: You'd make pretty babies together."  And she walked over to the mini fridge to the sound of Sam choking on his beer.


	45. Polished and Changed For the Better

"What the hell do you and my brother talk about when you're together?" Sam croaked out, when Charlie came back to the table with a broad grin on her face.  She handed Sam a beer and sat back down.

"Oh you and Lily, him and Rose.  All the good stuff.  I bring out the gossipy side in you boys apparently."  Charlie sounded pretty proud of this fact.

"And how did us having babies come up?" Sam asked with a raised eyebrow.

"That was on me.” Charlie admitted.  “I said I didn't know anything about Lily, it was only the first night I'd met her after all.  She's pretty closed off at first, you know?  So all I could go on was looks.  I said you looked good together and would make pretty babies."  Charlie grinned.  "Dean choked on his whiskey, the same as you did on your beer.  Is this a genetic Winchester reaction to talk of babies?"

Sam chuckled.  "I don't think so.  You just caught me off guard."  He paused then with a sly grin asked "So he talked to you about Rose, huh?"

Charlie raised a hand, stopping him before he could ask.  "The gossip rule works both ways.  I don't tell Dean what you tell me, I don't tell you what he tells me either.  Only fair."

"True, but nowhere near as fun" Sam said with a mischievous grin and Charlie had to laugh.

“So I’ve caught how Lily watches them.  Why are you both so interested in their relationship?” Charlie asked.

“It’s not me, it’s Lily” At Charlie’s look Sam conceded “OK so maybe she has me caught up in it too.  You know how I said Lily tells Rose everything?” Charlie nodded, sipping on her beer.  “Usually that goes both ways but time Rose isn’t sharing much and it’s making Lily nuts.  You want a gossip queen Lily is it.  She _has_ to know things.  And her little sister who usually tells her every detail not spilling is making her nuts.”

“I bet!” Charlie said with a laugh.  “You’re girlfriend doesn't strike me as the most patient person.”

“You’re telling me” Sam muttered.  “Lily even tried getting info out of Dean about him and Rose.”

“Oh I would have paid money to hear that conversation” Charlie said.  “I’m sure it went great.”  Sam chuckled and Charlie stared at the table thoughtfully for a second.  “You want my take on Dean and Rose?  Nothing Dean said to me or anything, just what I’ve observed.”  Sam nodded eager to hear what she thought.  She hadn’t seen them together for years like he had so a fresh set of eyes on them, especially ones as observant as Charlie’s would be interesting.  Charlie took a minute, getting her thoughts together, then taking a deep breath she said:

“I think they’re both absolutely crazy about each other.  They both light up around the other one.  They’re not as touchy as you and Lily.  Seriously Sam, do you guys ever keep your hands off each other?” Sam grinned and blushed at that comment, but didn’t try to deny it. “Hey, I’m not complaining, just gotta tease you about it a little, right?  Anyway, ya they’re not as touchy feely as you two but they always know where the other one is.  Watch them sometime.  They almost always have the other one in their line of sight.  They’re also both super protective of each other, and that goes both ways, not just Dean like most people would think.” Charlie was thinking about the conversation in the library when the subject of their mom had come up.  She’d taken in how Rose had immediately comforted Dean and went to check on him, making sure he was OK.  That wasn’t shallow affection there.  “Rose looks at your brother like, well I think Channing Tatum could be in the same room naked and if Dean was there she wouldn’t even notice.  And she says some of the sweetest stuff to him.” At Sam’s questioning look, Charlie squirmed and admitted “I might have eavesdropped a little.”  He laughed at Charlie’s admitted nosiness and she continued.  “I’m not talking sweet nothings.  I’m talking good, deep things that we all want to hear, but could never ask for.  She points out all the good stuff about him that he needs to hear.  She’s good for him.”

Sam nodded taking that in.  It didn’t surprise him about Rose.  She always did have that gift for saying just the right thing and he’d heard a few things from her about Dean that meshed with what Charlie was saying.  After a minute he laughed and said “By the way, a naked Benedict Cumberbatch would be a more tempting distraction for Rose.  Channing is more Lily’s type.”  Charlie looked at him questioningly and it was Sam’s turn to squirm.  “We um, played this game one night and both girls got a little tipsy and shared their celebrity crushes.”

Charlie was giving him an incredulous look.  “So you all hang out and play drunken games together…OK I’m not even going to touch that.” Shaking her head she went on “I think Dean is just as crazy about Rose.  He looks at her like she’s a dream come true and touches her like she’s made of glass.”  She paused, then asked “I know you guys aren’t big on talking about your feelings so I’m going to assume you haven’t discussed this with him, right?”

Sam shook his head.  “I kind of brought it up.  Well, OK I walked in on them making out in the dining room.”  Charlie’s eyes got big at that. “Seriously it's the first time anyone has caught them doing anything like that this whole time.  They’re obviously a lot better at being sneaky than Lily and I are.”  Charlie laughed, having figured that out already from the comments she’d heard.  “Anyway, I brought it up and he completely stonewalled me.  He actually gave me some line about not confirming or denying anything.”

“When you say you brought it up you mean you were teasing him right?  Picking at him in your loving, brotherly way?”  Sam nodded his head, looking a bit sheepish and Charlie rolled her eyes at him.  “Gee, and he didn’t spill his heart out to you?  I’m shocked.”  She leaned across the table.  “Here’s an idea.  Why don’t you and Dean go out one night, no girls, just you two?  Get your brother drunk, Sam.  I guarantee he’ll talk.  It'll be good for the both of you."

Sam nodded thoughtfully and Charlie grinned, having planted the needed seed.  Charlie had heard the fears Dean had, though of course he’d laid them out as his fears for Sam.  He needed to talk to someone and if the idiots would put their macho walls down Sam was the best person for the job.  Charlie gave herself a little pat on the back.  Job well done.

* * *

Rose woke up, not sure what time it was but feeling like she had been asleep for years.  She stretched and immediately gasped as every muscle in her body protested.  It felt like every part of her body hated her.

“Morning Sunshine” a deep voice said, and Rose turned her head to see Dean laying next to her, looking way more awake than her and reading...one of the books she had brought with her?

“What are you doing?” she asked groggily, turning towards him.

Dean leaned over and kissed her softly then pulled back and held the book up.  “I was just waiting for you to wake up.” He paused then added thoughtfully.  “For a book with French kissing in the title there really isn’t much of it in this book.  Foodgasm though, now that’s a good word.  I like that.”

Rose blinked at him slowly.  Maybe she was still asleep.  Was there actually a reality where she woke up to find Dean reading a young adult book and wanting to discuss it with her?  “I didn’t realize I brought that one with me.  I meant to bring the sequel.”  It occurred to Rose that most guys would think it was weird, her bringing books on a romantic weekend away, but Rose brought a book with her everywhere and Dean had known her long enough to know that.

“Oh cool, there’s more?”  Dean asked, looking pleased at this and Rose nodded, sure she was in some alternate reality. “Awesome.”  He grinned at her then set the book aside and pulled her into his arms.  “How are you feeling this morning, Rosie?”

“Sore” she admitted, looking a bit embarrassed.

Dean chuckled and leaned down to her ear.  "If you weren't I'd be insulted" he said in a low, sexy voice that made Rose blush.

"Let me guess.  You're perfectly fine.  Not a single ache or pain?" Rose asked.

"Oh hell no.  There are definitely some aching muscles." Rose grinned triumphantly, glad it wasn't just her.  "Baby, you can't really do what we did last night as many times, in as many ways, in as many different positions as we did and not expect to feel it the next day.  Not if you're doing it right anyway.”  From the smug look on Dean's face it was easy to see he was feeling pretty proud of himself.  Rose just rolled her eyes.  “We just need to give our bodies a few more hours to recoup.  There’s plenty we can do till then.”  Dean winked at her and Rose couldn’t help but smile.

“Why don’t you go take a shower, might help with some of those aches and pains.  I’ll make us some food.  But first…” Dean leaned down, his mouth hovering over hers.  “We still need to start this day off right.”  His lips captured hers in a hot, sweet kiss, setting Rose’s heart pounding.  As Dean’s lips brushed over hers softly she licked her tongue over his lips quickly, drawing a moan from him and causing him to deepen the kiss.  After several minutes Dean pulled back and smiled at her.  “Put your comfiest clothes on when you get out, Sweetheart.  We’re not leaving the cabin today.”

* * *

Rose stepped under the hot spray of the shower and sighed in bliss as the hot water eased some of the soreness and stiffness out of her sore muscles.  As she worked the shampoo into her hair her mind wandered back to last night and she couldn’t help but smile.  She’d always known she and Dean would be amazing together but last night was beyond her wildest dreams.  She had aches in muscles she didn’t even know she had, not to mention the more obvious spots.  Oh yes, those areas were very, very tender.  She grinned, thinking she could tell Lily that Dean blew his reputation out of the water.  The things the man could do with his tongue alone were beyond description.

She frowned then, thinking the one problem with that plan was that she didn’t want to tell Lily details about her and Dean’s time together.  She wanted to keep this just for herself.  Rose had always been a sharer and was generous by nature.  Even as little girls Lily had been the one to get in trouble for not sharing, not Rose.  She loved having sisters, loved the close connection they had and loved that they all knew each other so well.  She was sure there would be quite a few males who wouldn’t be too happy if they knew exactly how much she and Lily especially shared.  And even now she knew a bit more about Sam in bed than she really wanted to if she was perfectly honest.  It was one thing to know details about someone who was just casually in your life.  It was quite another to know intimate details about someone you shared living quarters with, someone who you considered family.  Rose frowned, rinsing her hair and then adding conditioner.  As an adult it rankled occasionally how much of her life was a joint effort.  She had very little in her life that wasn’t known by everyone.  Chastity was one of the few friends she had that her sisters didn’t know about, who was separate from them.  And when she and Dean were alone that was hers and hers alone.  The words they said to each other, the details of what they did and how they felt, those were private and she didn’t want to share them.  She knew Lily would want details when she got back and she just wasn’t prepared for that.  Rinsing the conditioner from her hair Rose decided she would just have to do an excellent job of painting with broad strokes.  She had no problem with confirming that Dean’s reputation was well founded but the details were hers to keep.

Rose washed up with her shower gel, thinking about the words they’d said last night.  She hadn’t expected that but she had to admit it had felt good then and it still did now.  It was so like them not to say things in your typical fashion.  And honestly, the words were perfect.  _Mine_.  _Yours_.  She grinned.  They never had done things the ordinary way and it didn’t look like they were going to start now.  That was just fine with her.  Despite appearances Rose was a lot less traditional than Lily.  She liked quirks, liked the things that didn’t fit in a box.  When it came right down to it she just cared that Dean was happy and that she was.  How they went about didn’t really matter to her.

Getting out of the shower and wrapping herself in a towel Rose studied her neck.  She had quite possibly the largest hickey ever.  Ya, that was gonna get commented on.  She quickly dressed in one of her favorite sets of pajamas (Pink plaid pajama pants and cute t-shirt with Stars Hollow Dragonfly Inn on it that were both soft and comfy) toweled her hair off so it wasn’t dripping at least and went downstairs to the kitchen.

She found Dean leaning against the kitchen counter, dressed in black plaid pajama bottoms and an old Metallica t-shirt, reading her book again and she stifled a giggle. He called her a contradiction but that term applied to him just as easily.  He was a tough, bad ass hunter who could kill demons without blinking an eye and could turn around and be so gentle with her that it took her breath away.  He teased her and Sam for their geeky tastes and here he was devouring a young adult novel.  He had a well earned reputation as a guy who went through woman like flavors of the week and yet last night he was the most considerate, generous lover she had ever had.  She bit her lip, realizing with a start just how far gone she was in her feelings for him.  He could seriously wreck her.  Shaking that thought from her mind she stealthily snuck a picture of him with book in hand, biting his lip as he read.  He whirled around just after she snapped the picture and she grinned at him unrepentantly.

He glared at her halfheartedly and then waving the book in her direction he said “This Toph guy is a dick.  I get that girls like guys in bands but come on, he’s a tool.”  He shook his head.  “And what kind of friend is Bridgette?  God, what a selfish bitch.”

Rose laughed and came forward and wrapped her arms around his waist.  “Glad you’re enjoying the book, Sweetie.”

Dean put the book down on the counter so he could wrap his arms around her.  “You’re not uh, gonna tell anyone about me reading this, right?” he asked, looking slightly nervous and embarrassed.

Rose reached up and kissed him lightly and shook her head.  “You secret is safe with me.”  That got her a big smile and Rose decided she should never tell him that for that smile she would do anything he asked.  “So where’s the food you were supposed to be making?” Rose asked, thinking she knew the answer to that already.

“Um, ya I got kinda sucked into the book…” Dean rubbed the back of his neck with one hand.

Rose laughed.  “Now there’s a sentence you don’t expect to hear leave your lips.”

Dean mock glared at her.  “Hey, I read!”

“Baby, I know you read” Rose said with a little smile.  “You don’t know the things you do without getting that info from somewhere.  But you don’t _admit_ you read.”

“Hmmmph” Dean said, not conceding she was right but not arguing either.  “So speaking of sore...” and he started to slide his hands down to her bottom before Rose stopped him.

“Nope, not fair.  Recoup time means you can’t be grabbing me.” She blushed and looked down at her feet then back up at Dean from under her lashes “Otherwise sore or not I won’t be able to control myself.”

Dean grinned, obviously loving the effect he had on her.  “OK, fair enough” he said, pulling his hands back up to her waist.  “Now let’s get some food.”  And with one loud, smacking kiss Dean let Rose go so they could get some lunch.

* * *

After eating a big lunch Dean and Rose sprawled on the couch together.  Dean was lying on his back, the book back in his hand; though he often set it aside to talk to Rose or kiss her, his other arm wrapped around her, lazily rubbing her back.  She was snuggled against his side, her head on his chest, one hand playing with his hair while the other held her own book.  The fact that her book had a woman wearing a corset and a skirt made of tulle on the cover and was in Dean's words "kinky smut" while the book he was reading had teenagers on the cover was too amusing for Rose not too point out.  Dean just gave her a lofty look and informed her that he was a man with layers.  He snuck a few looks at her book now and then and finally commented that they seemed to spend a lot of time describing people's clothes.  "How is that smutty or kinky?" Dean demanded.  "You have a book with French kissing in the title that has hardly any at all and a book that's supposed to be...what did you call it, erotica?  And all they do is talk about clothes.  That's a bunch of false advertising if you ask me."

"I like clothes" Rose protested.

Dean rolled his eyes.  "I know you like clothes" he said "But unless I missed something talking about clothes isn't sexy."

"It's setting the scene" Rose insisted but Dean didn't look convinced.  He went back to his book but Rose laid hers down and stared up at him, something on her mind.  "Why did you want to wait?" She asked suddenly, softly.  Dean looked up and meeting her eyes he knew immediately what she meant.  He set his book back down as well and looked at her intently.

"I wanted to do it right." He reached out and pushed a lock of her hair behind her ear. "I wanted it to be memorable, something special, not just something we snuck in between every day stuff.  And I wanted us to have time, not just during but after, like this."  He stroked her hair softly and Rose felt a soft flush of pleasure go through her.  She liked that he had thought about this ahead of time, that she had been worth the effort.  She gave Dean her best beaming smile and said softly "If you looked up right in the dictionary there would be a picture of this weekend." And she reached up to kiss him softly, hoping to express as best she could how much his effort meant to her, then she lay her head back on his chest and picked her book back up.  Meanwhile Dean's heart felt like it was going to burst out of his chest. To not only see on her face how right he had gotten this but to hear the words..it was all a bit too much for him honestly.  He lay there for a few minutes just basking in his happiness and feeling that warm feeling spreading from his chest throughout his whole body.  After a few minutes Dean kissed the top of her head then picked his book back up again.  "Now let's see if St. Clair can man up and let Anna know how he feels.  Maybe we'll actually get some French kissing finally" he muttered and Rose couldn't help but smile.

* * *

Back at the bunker Sam was reading over some of the other texts he had pulled, scouring them for any mention of the sisters or their prophecy.  He was only just starting to make notes on a few brief mentions he’d found (He was keeping a list of any books that mentioned them at all.) when Charlie let out a loud gasp, making Sam look up.

"I'm in!" she said.  "OK just into one of the websites, but I'm in!  Yes!" She threw an arm in the air triumphantly and pumped her fist.  "Give me a few minutes to translate it, the whole thing is in um, Gaelic, I think.  And we'll see what this baby is about."

* * *

Dean couldn’t remember a time he had ever spent a day with a woman like today.  Dean kept the women in his life in two distinct sections: Friends or Lovers and the two did not overlap.  (Though admittedly, he wouldn’t have been hanging out reading a book with anyone in either of those categories.)  And yet here was Rose, making her own category and her own rules without even trying.  She’s just snuggled up against him on the couch, happy to be with him, reading her book while he read the one he’d taken from her, laughing, kissing or talking occasionally and just generally enjoying being together.  In Dean’s experience people tended to value him for one of three reasons: Hunting skills, sarcastic humor or his skills in bed.  He knew what he was good at and he was proud of all three but being appreciated just for your skills tends to make a guy feel like less of a whole person.  With Rose she had always just appreciated him for him, no special services required.  He had always felt like when she looked at him she saw Dean, not a set of skills that were useful to her.  If he was honest, maybe some small sub-conscious part of his had worried that once they were lovers the other part of their relationship would go away or become less important.  Admittedly the attraction, the fire between them was strong but it always had been.  The only difference was now they could do something about it.  But it was nice to know that the core of their relationship was still there, still important.  Maybe there _was_ something to this whole being friends before you became lovers.

Dean and Rose had finally moved from the couch in the early evening to wander down to the small fishing pier that went out to the lake.  They had slipped shoes on, but as it was a secluded bit of private property they hadn’t bothered changing clothes.

The sun was low in the sky, not quite sunset but starting to make that slow trip.  They stood at the end of the pier, watching the water slowly lapping against it.  Dean wrapped his arms around Rose’s waist from behind and she leaned back against him.  He didn’t even object when Rose pulled out her phone to snap a picture of the two of them, lazy, contented smiles on both their faces, the slowly sinking sun casting them in shades of red and gold.

Rose smiled happily, staring out over the lake.  She’d always loved the water.  Having been born and raised in Nebraska she was a girl of the lakes, though the few times she’s seen the ocean she had loved it and she always hoped to get there more.  She always found water so soothing, so relaxing.  Standing here, leaning back in Dean’s arms after a wonderful night last night and having spent a day napping and reading and cuddling with him she knew this was one of the best weekends of her life.

Resting his head against Rose’s, Dean’s thoughts were similar to hers.  Being close to Rose had always given him a sense of comfort like nothing else.  And here, having spent a relaxing day with her, with nothing more pressing than what they would do in the next few minutes he felt as peaceful as he could ever remember. 

His lips found their way to her neck then, softly and gently, his lips caressing her soft, sensitive flesh and just like that the banked fire between them started to build again.  Rose enjoyed the feel of his lips on her neck for a few minutes before slowly turning in his arms.  She smiled at him, reaching up to kiss him, her eyes staring into his as her lips ghosted over his.  Her eyes were deep, fathomless pools and Dean wanted nothing more at that moment than to drown in them.  The way she looked at him, as if he were the only thing that mattered in the entire word made his entire being ache with longing.  No one had ever looked at him like that.  Her hands ghosted over his chest softly and her touch felt reverent, almost sacred.  He would have sworn it wasn’t just his skin she was touching but something deeper inside, something that went to the very core of who he was.  Her lips moved from his mouth, across his cheek and to his neck where she scattered soft, tiny kisses and Dean wondered if it was possible to touch someone’s soul.  It felt like she was healing him with her touch, like the darkest, most damaged pieces of his soul were re-knitting themselves into whole, healthy parts that were stronger than they had been to begin with.

Rose pulled back and looked into his eyes again and Dean’s breath caught in his throat.  Her eyes were shining; full of so much warmth and emotion it almost overwhelmed him.  Not a word had been spoken since they had stepped out onto the pier but so much was being said that words couldn’t do justice to.  Rose leaned up to kiss him again with such aching tenderness that Dean felt as if his heart would burst.  He returned the kiss just as softly, just as gently, basking in the feelings she was bringing out in him. 

They would stay on the pier for quite some time that evening, kissing and touching each other in a way that bordered on adoration.   Eventually they would go back inside and their lovemaking that evening would have a different feel to it.  The passion was still just as strong but there was a sentiment behind it that neither would give a name to yet.  But named or not, it was there, in every touch, every sigh, every kiss.

On the pier that evening under the setting sun, Rose and Dean felt a page turn.  The deep connection they had always felt was still there, only deeper and more profound than before, as they both took brave steps forward together as a new chapter began.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “A soulmate is someone who has locks that fit our keys, and keys to fit our locks. When we feel safe enough to open the locks, our truest selves step out and we can be completely and honestly who we are; we can be loved for who we are and not for who we’re pretending to be. Each unveils the best part of the other. No matter what else goes wrong around us, with that one person we’re safe in our own paradise.” -Richard Bach


	46. I'm Your Girl and You're My Man

The next morning Rose woke up much earlier than the day before. They had stayed up late the night before, well into the wee hours of the night but still here she was awake.  Rose smiled as the images and memories of the night before came back to her.  Last night had been magical, no other word sufficed.

She was on her stomach and Dean had his arm draped over her waist and she loved the feel of waking up to him next to her, their bodies always touching in one way or other.  She turned her face to study him, brushing a hand lightly over his face and he stirred in his sleep and Rose withdrew her hand, not wanting to wake him just yet.  He was sleeping soundly and Rose let herself just watch him for a little while, smiling at how young and sweet he looked when he was sleeping.  He looked happy, unworried and Rose loved seeing that look on his face.  Eventually as if feeling her eyes on him Dean stirred, his eyes slowly fluttering opening.  She leaned over him, ready to kiss him good morning and he gave Rose a sleepy smile and pulled her to him, kissing her before she had a chance to kiss him.  Dean was still only half awake so these were sleepy, lazy kisses somehow more endearing in their casualness.  The fact that upon waking and seeing her lips it was just Dean’s natural instinct to kiss them touched something in Rose.  This wasn’t a kiss about seduction or about romance; it was just pure affection.

“Morning, Princess” he said, his voice rough with sleep, pulling back and grinning at her.  Rose grinned back, loving the sleepy, disheveled Dean.

“Morning, Sweetie” she said in return, settling herself against his chest, entwining one of her legs with his.  She ran her hands over Dean’s chest, her fingers tracing his tattoo, her mind mulling over the fact that she would soon have the same design on her own skin.  She’d never really figured she would have a tattoo.  They always seemed more Lily’s style than hers.  She had to admit she was a bit nervous about the prospect, more about the pain than anything else.  “Does it hurt?” she asked, looking up at Dean.

It took Dean’s sleep fogged mind a few minutes to figure out what she was asking.  “Getting a tattoo?” he asked and Rose nodded.  “Na, feels kind of annoying honestly, a little irritating.  And the place we’re taking you, the guys are really good.”  He realized something with a frown.  “God, Jake is going to love you.”

“Who’s Jake and why will he love me?” Rose asked curiously, stroking her hand over Dean’s tattoo again.

“He’s one of the owners of the tattoo parlor and their best artist.  You’re totally his type” Dean said, the frown becoming more evident on his face.

Rose smiled and said “Well I may be his type but that doesn’t really matter does it?  I’m your girl."

That got a big smile from Dean and a warm look in his eyes as well.  "That's true, Baby."  He turned over suddenly, taking her with him and trapping her underneath him.  "Now how about I prove that?"

* * *

Charlie's cry of triumph the day before has turned out to be a bit premature.  Instead of the encrypted website being in just one language it had been in several, changing languages every few words or so.  Then after that was finally translated there had been some other hurdles to jump over (None of which Lily had understood when Charlie had rattled off a quick, agitated explanation.). But she thought she was just about there.  Lily hoped all the websites weren't this difficult.  She left a muttering Charlie to wander down to Rose’s room to feed Sookie.

She filled Sookie’s food bowl then sat down on the chair in the corner and Sookie jumped up on her lap, glad to have some company.  She stroked her back and Sookie purred, kneading and making herself comfortable.   If Lily was honest she was surprised by how disturbed she was by Rose’s absence.  True, they weren’t used to being apart but her feelings went beyond that.  She felt nervous and on edge at not being able to see with her own two eyes that her sister was OK.  Maybe it was being in new surroundings.  Or it could be that she was terrified by all the things that seemed to want to get a hold of Rose.  Maybe some combination of both of those, Lily thought.

“You miss Rosie too, don’t you Sook?” Lily asked, stroking her soft fur.  “See, it’s all Dean’s fault.  Stupid guy had to take her away from where she was safe.  Remember that Sookie.  You should bite him when they get back.”

“That’s not nice, Lil” Lily looked up to see Sam sticking his head around the door.  He came in and sat on the side of the bed.  “You want Rose to be happy don’t you?”

“Of course” Lily said, with a pout and then added “But why can’t she just be happy here?”  Sookie jumped off her lap and Lily drew her legs up, hugging her knees to her chest, Lily’s position of choice when she was upset.

Standing up Sam went over to her, lifted her up, took her seat and sat her back down with her on his lap.  She curled herself up on his lap, tucking her head under his chin. 

“She and Dean need time alone, Lil” Sam said.  “They’re different people than you and me” Sam repeated for what felt like the hundredth time.

“So you keep telling me” Lily muttered, fiddling with a button on Sam’s shirt.  “Why can’t they just be normal like us?”

Sam laughed at that, causing Lily to draw back to look at him.  “Lil, we are far from normal.  You realize we’ve never been on a date?  Most people do that before they move in together, you know.”

“Well Ya, OK but it works and we’re happy so who cares” Lily said, with a frown.  Who cared what everyone else did?

Sam chuckled.  That was Lily’s outlook on life in a nutshell.  “I’m just saying we’re not exactly the picture of a normal couple, Babe.”  He kissed Lily’s forehead and hugged her.  “Relationships aren’t one size fits all, Lil.”  Lily just gave him a grumpy look that said this line of thinking wasn’t helping.  Giving up trying to reason with her Sam brought up his reason for seeking Lily out in the first place, something he hoped would cheer her up. “What do you think about having a girl’s night in tonight when we get back from the tattoo parlor?” Lily looked at him questioningly and he explained “I want to take Dean out to Donnie’s” he said, mentioning the local bar they had gone to eat at before.  “Figured we could have a guys night and you and Rose and Charlie could have some time here.”  He frowned then, remembering Daisy.  “Oh but there’s Daisy-

“She wants to go back to the hotel after she gets her tattoo” Lily interrupted, taking care of that problem.  “She said that yesterday.  Which is good, because no way am I going to be around her and alcohol ever again and if we’re gonna have a girl’s night then alcohol is required.”  Sam nodded in agreement.  They did not need a repeat of last time.  “OK, sounds like a plan.  Oh! I can make jello shots!” Lily instantly perked up at this idea.

Sam chuckled at her excitement.  “Great idea, Lil.  But Charlie’s close to getting the one website done and-“

“She said that an hour ago” Lily said crossly, standing and heading for the door.  “I’ll get the jello shots made and in the fridge now.”

Sam just shook his head and followed her out of the room.  When Lily made her mind up there was no arguing with her. 

* * *

Rose came out of the bathroom, having just gotten out of the shower to find Dean sitting on the bed, the cell phone from the car in his hand.  She frowned.  She didn’t really want to go back to reality.  She’d done surprisingly well this weekend, keeping her mind off of what was going on back at the bunker, what they’d found on the prophecy, how the spell removal was going to go.  She’d been able to push it out of her head and it had been a welcome respite.  She had focused on just her and Dean and it had felt for an all too brief period of time that they had a normal life.  Now it all came rushing back to her and she immediately wished it would disappear again.

Dean looked up to see Rose standing in the doorway, in a towel, biting her lip with a worried expression on her face.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” he asked, getting up and coming over to her, dropping the phone on the love seat on the way there and wrapping his arms around her.

She stared at his chest, not meeting his eyes, Rose’s biggest give away that she was upset.  She didn’t answer, instead resting her head against him.

“Rosie, come on, you gotta talk, Baby or I don’t know what’s going on” Dean said, running a hand down her back, in soothing strokes.

“I don’t want to go back” Rose said quietly.

“Oh Baby, I know” Dean said with a sigh.  He wished they could stay here too.  Here they weren’t a hunter and a girl with a prophecy.  Here they were just Dean and Rose.

“I wish we could just stay here” Rose said, echoing his thoughts.  "Or run away somewhere together where nobody knows us.”  She looked up at Dean guiltily.  “That sounds horrible, doesn’t it?  I mean, we have people back at the bunker who love us."

Dean shook his head.  "You're right, we do.  But you don't sound horrible.  You sound honest." He tipped her chin back to meet her eyes.  "You can be honest with me, you know.  I'm not going to judge you if everything you say isn't sweet and perfect."  Rose smiled her thanks at him for that and Dean let go of her chin and then he grinned.  "Besides, it's not like it's the first time you've tried to get me to run away with you."  He nodded his head thoughtfully.  "I think the first time was when we were six."

Rose laughed loudly at that.  "You're right.  I had at least a plan a year every year after that."  Several times during their childhood Rose had saw them running away together as a viable option to Dean and Sam having to go back on the road with their dad.  There was usually an elaborate scheme to go with it, Lily and Sam would always be expected to be part of the plan (Though without their knowledge as far as Dean knew.) and Rose was always deadly earnest about it.  Rose's dad would somehow always know and divert them before they could make any actual movement.

Dean nodded. "My personal favorite was the year we were studying Russia in history.  Remember?  You were sure if we could just get there we'd be far enough away that no one could ever find us.  I think you also wanted one of the crowns you saw in our history book."

"See, I've been planning to get you away from everyone for a long time" Rose said with a giggle.

"Aw, no your plans involved your sister and my brother tagging along" Dean said, shaking his finger at her.  "Mine was obviously the superior plan.  Nobody but you and me invited."

Rose smiled at him and nodded.  "You're right.  You definitely win."

Dean smiled smugly then turned serious.  "Look, we have a lot of crazy, stressful shit to go back to.  But, we've got each other" he smiled at her "and now if things get too crazy I'll just tell everyone "Sorry everyone, I need to go fuck my girlfriend now" and I'll just drag you away.  Sound like a plan?"  He winked at Rose, who was giggling at him.

"Please, please don't" she said, unable to stop laughing, despite her protest.

"Well how about if I just whisper it to you then?" Dean said a wicked grin on his face.  He put his lips right next to her ear and said in a low voice "You like when I say dirty things to you, don't you, Rosie?"  He pulled back to look at her face and was pleased to see she was blushing.  Heat had flooded through her at his words and she nodded her head and bit her lip, though this time for a very different reason.  Dean chuckled lowly and said "You like when I say naughty words to you too, don't you, Baby?" and Rose nodded again, quickly.  Dean started backing up towards the bed, taking Rose with him.  "How about when I _do_ wicked things to you?" he asked, sitting down on the bed and pulling her to stand between his legs.

"Oh that's my favorite" Rose murmured.

Dean's hands had moved to her waist and he turned her quickly so her back was to him.  He moved his hands down to her thighs, slowly sliding them up over her bottom and back to her waist, pushing the towel up as he went.

"You weren't kidding when you said you healed quickly" Dean said, stroking her bottom while he checked on her bruising.  All the red marks were gone and there were just a few light bruises left.  "You're almost completely healed up."

"Well I had this great guy who put this magical cream on me too" Rose said, giving him a grin over her shoulder.

Dean grinned right back at her.  "Something tells me we might have to buy stock in the stuff" he said.  He stood up behind her, one hand going to her waist and the other softly stroking her bottom.  "I think we're definitely good for another spanking before you have to sit this pretty little ass of yours down in the car."

Rose groaned.  "This is going to become a habit, isn't it?" she asked, unable to hide her smile, though wondering what she had gotten herself into at the same time.  "Before a road trip you're gonna spank me from now on, aren't you?"

Dean shrugged, moving his arm so that both were wrapped around her waist, then casually reaching up and tugging her towel loose so that it fell in a heap at her feet, causing her to gasp softly as his hands came up to cup her breasts, his fingers stroking her nipples softly.  "Gotta make sure you behave yourself, Princess."  Then he winked and slipped a hand down to stroke between her legs, dragging a whimper from her lips.  "And just mentioning it seems to have such a positive effect on you."  He slipped a finger inside her and grinned at the look on her face.  Her eyes were shut and her head was thrown back, obviously enjoying this.  "I made you come twice, just a little over an hour ago, Sweetheart and with just a mention of me spanking you you're dripping wet." He paused then added "Plus, it is awfully cute the way you shuffle on the seat."

Rose decided not to point out she also happened to be naked, in his arms with him touching her.  In all honesty she had been wet before he'd even mentioned spanking her. Dean could look at her and make her desperate for him.

"So here's what I'm thinking" Dean said, as casually as if they were discussing dinner plans, as if she wasn’t naked in his arms and he wasn’t touching her in a way that was going to make her come apart.  "We have a few hours before we have to hit the road.  Three hours actually, give or take a few minutes.”  He smiled at Rose's flushed face, and kissed the side of her neck slowly.  With a wicked grin on his face he said “How many times do you think I can make you come in three hours?”

* * *

The jello shots made, Lily settled herself into a chair in the library next to Sam and across from Charlie, who was still typing away.  Charlie had an odd look on her face, somehow a mix of happiness and concern.  Lily glanced at Sam and he just shrugged.  Obviously he wasn’t sure what was going on either.

Finally Charlie stopped clicking away at her laptop and looked up at them.  “OK so I finally have the first website completely open and translated.  I’m working on the second one now.  Before we get to that though I wanted to mention something I thought of last night.”  She looked at Lily.  “I’m going to guess your family researched what they could about the prophecy when you were growing up, right?  I mean obviously you wouldn’t have the resources from the bunker but other than that?”

Lily nodded.  “Ya, my mom had a pile of books and Rose and Daisy both did online searches.” She frowned.  “I’m pretty sure Bobby did some research too.  There wasn’t a whole lot to be found.”

Charlie nodded.  “Did it occur to anyone here how odd it is that suddenly we’re finding more online than ever before?   I mean obviously you didn’t have the resources from the bunker so anything found in a book here doesn’t surprise me but the online stuff does.  In all your searching you never came across these websites that were encrypted?  Or more than a passing mention to the priest and two nuns?”

Sam and Lily looked at each other, their surprise evident on their faces.  Lily shook her head.  “I never even thought of that.”

“Me either” Sam said, looking sheepish.  “You think it would have occurred to one of us.”

“I have a theory” Charlie said and both Sam and Lily looked at her expectantly.  “I don’t think these sites were live until recently.  Yes, they were created sometime in the last twenty years but I don’t think you could have found them until the last few months.  Not even if you knew exactly where to look and had hacker skills.  And as far as the un-encrypted stuff you guys found, I checked it out.  None of that was there six months ago.”

“OK so what does all this mean?” Lily asked, wanting to cut to the chase.

Charlie looked at both Sam and Lily with a worried expression.  “It could be that it’s assumed it’s common knowledge now that some people or demons or whatever know that Rose is the one with the mega powers.  Or at least that’s what whoever’s controlling this information thinks.  There’s some reason they believe this was the time to put all this out there and Rose and Daisy getting their true powers makes sense.”

Sam watched the color drain from Lily’s face and he reached a hand out to rub her back soothingly.   Charlie looked at them both regretfully, hating to be the one to share upsetting information.  Sam gave her an understanding smile.  Like it or not they needed to know this stuff.   Lily seemed to take a minute to gather her wits about her then she turned her head to Sam with a snap.

“We need to call Dean now and tell them they need to get back here right now.  No more romantic weekends away.  He’s going to get my sister hurt!” Her voice was urgent and full of concern.

Sam continued to rub her back, trying to calm her.  “They’re on the way back, Lil, or will be soon.  Calling them and panicking them isn’t going to do any good.  I know my brother and they’ll be on schedule.”

“I, I could be wrong” Charlie offered, feeling horrible for causing upset.

Lily took a deep breath and looked at her intently.  “Do you think you’re wrong?”

Charlie swallowed hard.  “No” she said finally.  “I don’t.  This all makes too much sense to be a coincidence.”

Lily nodded her head, having seemed to steady herself a bit.  “They’ll be back soon” she clarified with Sam and he nodded.  “OK then, Charlie, tell us all the great things this website has to say.”

Taking a deep breath Charlie jumped in with a frown.  “So I've skimmed the first website a little bit and it’s, well it’s weird and pretty disturbing.”

“Why would it possibly be anything else?” Lily muttered.

“Weird how, Charlie?” Sam asked.

“Well it’s kind of all over the place.  There will be a paragraph about one subject then a totally different topic is in the next.  It may come back to the same topic further down, then again it may not.  I’m not completely convinced this priest wasn’t a bit um, crazy” Charlie said with a wince.

“Of course he was crazy.  He was locked in a church with two nuns for who knows how long without-” Lily rolled her eyes at Sam’s glare, but quit her rant.  She’d already shared her view of priests’ and nuns lifestyles before and Sam obviously wasn’t interested in a repeat.

“We get it, Lil, you won’t be joining a convent any time soon” Sam said.

“Ya, and you’re glad of that too” she shot back instantly and Charlie tried to smother her grin.

“How about I just read you what it says?  I’ll try to put it in as much order as I can” Charlie asked, figuring they wouldn’t get anywhere if these two kept at it.  At both their nods she cleared her voice and started reading.

**I, Kieran Docherty a priest at The Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary have been blessed with the gift of discernment and vision.  By the grace of God and the fates I have been placed here with two blessed women graced with the sight, such as I, though their visions are much stronger and deeper than my own.**

**It will come to pass that in the future there will be born three sisters, born of a strong and true bloodline.**

Charlie stopped reading to say “Oh and he’s totally obsessed with your bloodline” glancing up at Lily.

"I’ve had guys obsess over a lot about me but never my bloodline” she quipped.  Sam chuckled and Charlie grinned then went back to reading.

**These three will be mighty, able to turn tides to the side of their choosing.  For humanities sake I pray it is the right one.**

**Those of my blood will be tasked with watching the precious ones.  It is their birthright and their sacred duty.  They will offer protection to the three and will guard the words as well.  I have hid my words with them and am entrusting them to guard them wisely.**

“So obviously whoever set these websites up is a descendant of his” Charlie said and Sam nodded.  “I think they’re also responsible for all the information you guys were able to suddenly find online.”

“Wait, so there is, what a group of people watching us?” Lily asked, looking horrified by the idea.

“I guess so” Charlie said, scanning the website again. “Offering protection.  Has anyone offered you guy’s protection?”

“Aside from Bobby, Sam and Dean, no.”  Lily glanced at Sam.  “Are you a part of some secret society I don’t know about?” she asked and Sam shook his head with a grin.  “Right, so no.  So the fact that there’s a group of people out there watching us?  That’s really creepy.”

Charlie scanned the website and said “OK he quotes the original prophecy next, nothing new there, rambles on about the blessings of Ireland.”  She cleared her throat and said “Then it gets interesting.”

**Sister Fitzgerald has many visions of the precious ones and what powers they will have.  Her sight is strong and true.  She especially sees the path of the Warrior and much of what she holds and can offer the world.**

“Oh yae, I get my own personal nun” Lily muttered.  Sam reached out a hand and casually took one of her hands in his.  He was used to living with someone who used sarcasm when they were nervous and he recognized that was what Lily was doing.  Lily looked at their linked hands in surprise then gave Sam a soft smile.  Charlie pretended not to notice the sweet moment but couldn’t help a small smile of her own.

**The warrior holds the bond tightly in her grip that will hold the gifted one to the true path.  The warrior must protect her bond with the gifted one at all costs.  Ultimately this and the love of her soul will be the factors that sway her to light or dark.**

“Now see that one I get” Lily said, looking confident.  “I’ve been protecting Rosie since she was born and our bond is tight.  I've got that covered.”  She smiled at Sam and Charlie, happy to have something she felt she could handle easily.

“And the love of her soul?” Charlie asked, glancing between Sam and Lily.

“You’ll have to ask Rosie about that one” Lily said simply.  Charlie nodded and continued.

**The warrior must learn that not all battles can be won with a sword.  Love and trust are sometimes stronger than might.  Her heart must guide her and the future of many depends on her.**

Charlie paused and when Lily and Sam had no comment she went on.

**Sister Sullivan is of the same blood as the three. The d-**

“I knew it!” Lily proclaimed triumphantly. “I told you we were related.  Ha!  You can just tell Dean that the next time he says I suck at researching.”

“Lily, you hate researching” Sam said. “You really want to be good at it so people will want you to do it more?”

Lily frowned, not having considered that angle.  “Well, no.  But still, I was right.”  She gave a nod of her head.  “That’s the important point here.”  Sam just rolled his eyes and nodded at Charlie to continue.

**Sister Sullivan is of the same blood as the three. The darkness in her visions allows us to see some of the dangers that will stand against the three in the future.  Many dangers are there but the greatest will seek to take down all that the three love.**

“Of course our ancestor gets the dark visions” Lily murmured.

**The gifted one will be much desired, not just by the dark ones but by the forces of light as well.  She would do well to protect herself, to remember that not all those who are good will have her best interests at heart.  Though a generous spirit is a gift, it can also be a curse.  She must guard herself and not give too much, lest she become something less than she is called to be.**

**One life should not outweigh the many but our bonds can lead us to that decision.  Love has its flaws and the gifted one has hers.  Love leads us to mistakes as well.  Not all matters can be judged by the heart.**

“So basically Rosie is too nice?” Lily said, summing the prophecy up in her own words.

“And it sounds like it’s not just demons who want her” Sam said.

“Great” Lily groaned.  “Rose’s parts of prophecy always suck.”

“The next part goes on about her powers, nothing new that I can see but it does specifically mention her being able to control the dark ones and that she needs to master this power.”

“How’s she supposed to do that?” Lily asked.  “Just go out and find them to control?”

“No, definitely not” Sam said firmly.  “Let me think about that one, see what we can come up with.”

“As far as I can tell this next part is the only specific mention of Daisy” Charlie said.

**The dreamer will walk in dreams, seeking and learning that which she cannot on this plane.  The messenger will be her guide and they will walk these roads together.  As the healing progresses the visions of the future will flow and the dreamers’ gifts will strengthen.**

Lily frowned.  “What the hell does that mean?  She can’t learn something on this plane?  What plane is she going to be on?  And healing?  What the fuck is that about?"

Not for the first time Sam wondered if he and Dean were making the right call, listening to Cas and Daisy about keeping whatever they were hiding from Lily and Rose.  Once they got the spell removed from Erin he and Dean needed to talk about how long they were going to go along with this.  They just needed to get the spell taken care of first.

“Maybe she’s going to be learning in her dreams” Charlie ventured, looking at Sam nervously.  Lily was looking severely agitated at this news.

Sam rubbed his thumb over the back of Lily’s hand, trying to soothe her.  “That would make sense, Lil.  I mean, her visions are strong now, I’m sure she’s going to get stronger and that would be on the dream plane.”  Lily narrowed her eyes at him, seeming to be trying to decide if she believed this theory.

“And the healing part?” she asked, challengingly.

Sam shrugged, helplessly.  “I have no idea on that one, Lil.”

“I’m going to go call her, make sure she’s OK” Lily said, getting to her feet abruptly.  “I hate that website” she called, walking out of the room.

Sam’s eyes followed Lily to the door worriedly.  Her sisters being in any sort of danger was her worst nightmare.  He’d need to go check on her once she got off the phone with Daisy.  He turned and gave Charlie an encouraging smile.  “You did a great job on that, Charlie.  Sorry it’s been so tough.”

Charlie smiled back gratefully then sobered quickly.  “I didn’t want to show this part to Lily without showing it to you first, see if you thought I should.”  Sam looked startled.  None of what they had found today had been good so what was so bad she wasn't sure about even showing it to Lily?  Charlie turned her laptop around and Sam quickly read the portion she indicated.

Charlie watched as Sam’s eyed widened as he read and the color drained from his face and then he glanced up at her quickly, then back at the door, making sure Lily was still out of the room.

He stood up suddenly, almost knocking his chair over in the process before quickly righting it.  “Do not show that to Lily” he said adamantly before quickly striding out of the room, in the opposite direction that Lily had gone.

Charlie sat there for a second, wide-eyed.  “Well that went well.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn't resists a "mega' being thrown in there for Rowena. ;)


	47. I’ll Be Wearing Nothing but a Tattoo and a Smile

Dean looked over at Rose, sitting next to him and smiled.  She was humming softly along with the radio and looking through the pictures on her phone.  He was glad he had mentioned her taking them; it had made her unreasonably happy and there was nothing he liked more than seeing Rose happy.  Though watching her squirm around in her seat like she was at the moment might be a close second.  He chuckled softly, causing her to look up at him questioningly.

He didn’t say anything, just raised an eyebrow at her and grinned wolfishly.  She blushed and giggled in response.  Oh yes, they were both still on an endorphin high.

“So Mr. Winchester” Rose said, giving him a cheeky smile.  “Any particular questions or topics you want to cover on the way home?  You have me all to yourself for the rest of this car ride.  Make the most of it.”

“Now that sounds like a good excuse to make a pit stop, find a secluded spot…” Dean winked at her and Rose laughed.  Dean thought for a second before coming up with a topic that he wanted to know more about.  "Tell me about Chastity."

Rose looked at him in surprise.  "That's what you want to talk about?"

Dean shrugged.  "She's your friend who sends you interesting pictures.  I'm intrigued."

"What do you want to know?" Rose asked, cautiously and Dean noticed she looked more guarded than he hardly ever saw her.

"How'd you meet her?"

"I was taking a photography class at the junior college.  Chastity was visiting her aunt for the summer and had signed up for the class too.  She had read the book I was reading and we got to talking and hit it off."  Rose shrugged.  "We've been friends every since."

"What book?” Dean asked, knowing with Rose that was probably part of the puzzle.

She smiled, always amazed at the details he picked up on.  Whoever dared to think Dean Winchester wasn’t a smart cookie was in for a rude awakening.  “It was part of the same series I was reading this weekend.”

“So kinky smut” Dean said.

Rose nodded “And not a series most people would know.”

Dean took that in, figuring it would fit in eventually.  “So the million dollar question - Why the picture?"

"Couldn't it be that she just thought he was hot and wanted to share?" Rose asked.

Dean nodded.  "It could be.  But then you would have just said that instead of trying to dodge the question."  He smirked when the look on Rose's face told him he was right.  And that she was both slightly irritated he caught that and also impressed.  Rose was smart enough that she got around a lot of people.  Dean had to admit that it made him proud that he generally wasn't one of them.

"She was taking his picture for an ad for her business" Rose said finally, realizing there was no way to get out of this aside from outright refusing.

"OK see, that's not a big deal" Dean said, then he paused, his mind flashing back to the picture of a half-naked man in leather cuffs kneeling at a woman’s feet.  “Though it must be a really interesting business she has.”  Then he paused before asking "What kind of business does she have?"

Rose sighed, dreading his reaction.  "Will you promise not to freak out?"

Dean started at her comment.  "Well I might have done a better job if you hadn't said that" he said, causing Rose to laugh softly.  "I'll try" Dean said cautiously, now really curious.

"Chastity caters to a certain niche group of people who require certain...experiences."

"Ok that makes her sound like she's either a travel agent or a hooker.  Is your friend a hooker, Rosie?"

"No, she's a dominatrix" Rose said, calmly.

Dean turned and openly gaped at her.  "Dean, watch the road!" Rose said sharply and Dean quickly turned his eyes back to the road.  Rose sighed.  "I knew it would freak you out."

"I'm not freaked out" Dean denied.  He relented when Rose gave him a disbelieving look.  "OK maybe a little but it's not at what she does. Just that you're friends with her."

"Why wouldn't I be?” Rose asked, looking offended.  “She's smart and funny and always has interesting stories to tell."

"I bet she does" Dean muttered.  After a minute he said “So I’m guessing Chastity is the friend who would love the dungeon?”  Rose nodded, with a grin.  Dean nodded, then after another minute passed he asked "So is that uh, something you're into?"

Rose stared at him a second.  "Dean, I like you to spank me.  Does that really seem like something a dominatrix would want?"  He shrugged.  "Nope, though interestingly enough I would be in high demand if I was."  He looked at her questioningly and she explained.  "I look sweet and wholesome; apparently I could pull off a 50’s housewife look which some of her clients like.  Who knew, right?"

A vivid image of what Rose described sprung to Dean’s mind and suddenly she wasn’t the only one squirming in her seat.  Dean glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, fairly certain she hadn’t noticed.

They passed a sign for a rest stop just ahead that had a Starbucks and Rose said "Oh can we make a quick stop?"

Dean nodded and took the exit, pulling into the parking lot of the busy rest stop.  He parked away from a lot of the other cars by sheer force of habit.  People were careless with their car doors, always banging them into other cars.  He didn't like to take chances with Baby.

Rose unbuckled her seat belt and put her hand on the door handle, then seemed to think of something and turned back around.

"Dean?" She said softly, causing Dean to look up at her.  She slid over next to him, placed a hand on his thigh and smiled a wicked smile that made his heart rate pick up.  When she spoke her voice was lower than normal, sounding very intimate, for Dean's ears only. "You didn't happen to like the image of me bossing you around, did you?  Maybe just a little?” Dean suddenly found it really hard to breath and he found himself swallowing hard, his pulse racing. “Maybe tying you up and teasing you till you were willing to beg me to let you come?" She paused and then looked up at him from under her lashes.  "Because I may not be a dominatrix but I have no problem taking charge occasionally."  She leaned over and kissed him on his gaping mouth.  "Just some food for thought."  And with a sweet smile she slid back over and hopped out of the car.

He watched her walk away, watched her answer a little old lady who had stopped to talk to her and shook his head in wonder.  In the black flippy skirt he loved her in and a cute purple T-shirt (with some saying about flowers he of course didn’t understand) she could pass for a high school student.  She looked the picture of sunshine and innocence walking out there and she may very well be the death of him.

* * *

Rose was in heaven to be in a Starbucks again after not having set foot in one in weeks.  She got herself her favorite drink and got Dean a large black coffee as well as picking them up some food to snack on.  The one thing they hadn’t done much of this weekend was eat.  Rose giggled softly to herself on the way back to the car.  They’d had more important things to focus on this weekend.

Rose slid back into the car and handed Dean his coffee with a little grin.  He took it from her carefully, before taking hers as well and setting them both on the dash with the snacks she had in her hands too.  Then he pulled her into his arms and kissed her soundly, his lips eager and demanding on hers.  Rose kissed him back happily, winding her arms around his neck and sighing blissfully into his mouth.  After a minute Dean pulled back, resting his forehead against hers and breathing heavily.  He grinned at her and she returned it.

“You have got to be the sweetest looking, naughtiest girl I have ever known” Dean said with a wink.  “And damn if I don’t love it.”

Rose laughed happily as Dean slid back behind the wheel and grabbed his coffee.  Rose grabbed her own and took a deep sip.  “Well good, because sweet without the naughty, that just wouldn’t work, Dean.”  She smiled at him and added “I got snacks for us too.”  Dean took the offered cookie with a smile of thanks once he had them back on the road and they both ate in silence for a few minutes.

“So you realize I’m going to be given the grand inquisition tonight, right?” Rose asked.  Dean had told her just after they left the cabin about Lily & Sam’s plans for the night after they got their tattoos.  Dean shot her a quizzical look and Rose explained, gesturing to the two of them.  “Us, our grand weekend of sex, if you live up to your reputation.”  She looked over to find Dean grinning.  “What?”

“I’m trying to decide which part I like better – Our grand weekend of sex or that I have such a reputation.” Dean looked smug now.  “I have to say, I do things right, don’t I?  Our first weekend away and it even has a title.  Damn, I impress even myself.”  He chuckled and Rose rolled her eyes.

“OK you find it so amusing then you can stay home with Lily and Charlie and I’ll go out and get drunk with Sam” Rose said.

“Oh hell no” Dean said, shuddering at the thought, making Rose laugh.  “Charlie I can handle.  Your sister however, man she’s like a pit bull.  When she gets a hold of something she won’t let go.”

“Tell me about it” Rose muttered. “So if you come home tonight and I have drowned myself in a pool of alcohol you’ll understand why.”

“I can try to cut the night out short” Dean said, frowning.

Rose shook her head.  “No, don’t please.  You boys are used to having time without us around all the time.  I’m sure you want to talk.  And besides, if anyone deserves a break it’s Sam.” At Dean’s confused look Rose chuckled.  “You realize you taking me away like this and us being out of contact is torture for Lily, right?  She’s nosy and overprotective and I never go away so she may even be a little jealous.  She’s probably been a nightmare while we’ve been gone and Sam has been stuck with her.”

“Aw man, I didn’t think of that.”  Dean thought a moment and then said “So in theory Sammy could be taking me out to murder me to get revenge.”

“Get him drunk.  He’ll forgive you” Rose said certainly.  “Meanwhile I can try and distract Lily by letting her babble about Sam and how amazing he is.”

Dean was thinking about something Rose had said and asked her. “So you don’t go away?”

It took Rose a second to catch up with what he was asking.  “Oh no, not for ages.”  She thought back, searching for the last time she had gone away without her sister.  “Um, probably not since I was in college.  I mean, I’ve gone away a few times overnight but Lily was always with me.”

Dean realized Rose hardly ever talked about her time at college.  It was easily the time of her life he knew the least about.  He wondered what she had been like there, serious and studious?  A bit of a wild child away from home for the first time?  A mixture of both?  He didn’t think he had ever seen a picture of her from that time.  He made a mental note to ask her about it.

“So this is really a strange occurrence for her” Dean commented, when he realized he hadn’t replied.

“Yep, a totally strange one.  If she’s bitchy to you just ignore her, OK?”  She shrugged, seeing Dean’s curious expression.  “I know how Lily reacts to change.  You took her sister away, she’s gonna be touchy for a bit.”  Rose fiddled nervously with one of the barrettes in her hair.  “She doesn’t mean to come across so mean.  She’s just protective and she overdoes it sometimes.”

“Hey, don’t worry about it.” Dean grabbed her hand and kissed it, then kept it in his own.  “It’s OK.  I get it.  Of course, she’s protective of you, you’re her little sister.  She’s gotta be so it’s OK.  I’m ready for it.”  Rose smiled at him gratefully.

Dean grinned then and winked at Rose.  “So, I want to hear what you’re going to tell them about our grand weekend of sex and my amazing talents.”

Rose giggled and grinned back at him.  “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

* * *

Dean and Rose got to the tattoo parlor ahead of everyone else.  With a smile Dean pulled Rose over next to him and she slid easily into his arms.

“I figure I’m gonna be without you for a few hours tonight.  Gotta make sure I get as many of these now as I can” he murmured, bringing his lips down to her.  His hands framed her face and his lips devoured hers, wanting her as close to him as he could get.  Rose combed her fingers through Dean’s hair, loving the feel of his body against hers, of his lips marking her as his.  His tongue nudged her lips, seeking entrance and she gladly opened her mouth to him.  Dean moaned softly and Rose felt her stomach clench.  As the kiss deepened one of Dean’s hands swept down her neck softly, stroking the sensitive spots he knew she had there.  Rose whimpered and pushed herself against him, one hand slipping from his hair to his shoulders, fisting his shirt in her hand.  They’d spent countless hours this past weekend kissing and touching, completely immersed in each other and still they couldn’t get enough.

A knock on the window startled them both and they sprung apart like guilty teenagers caught making out at the drive in.  Looking up they saw Sam at the window, grinning at them guiltlessly.  He moved back so Dean could open the door and grinned at his older brother when he got out.  “Figured you would have gotten your fill of that this weekend” he said, giving his brother a quick hug.

“If you think you can get your fill then you’re doing it wrong, little brother” Dean said, raising an eyebrow at him and Sam laughed.

“Hi Sam” Rose said, coming around the car.

“Hey Rosie” Sam said, giving her a quick hug.  “Please go convince your sister you’re OK” he whispered to her.

Giving Sam an apologetic smile, Rose headed over to where Lily and Charlie were leaning against Lily’s car.  Charlie was smiling but Lily’s face was like a storm cloud ready to rain down thunder and lightning on all those around her.  Rose went over and hugged her, making a big fuss about seeing her and finally Lily smiled and hugged her back.  Only then did Rose pull back and go to hug Charlie.

“Was Lily as bad as Rose thought she would be?” Dean asked Sam quietly.

Sam gave a soft laugh.  “See her shirt?”  Dean scanned Lily quickly.  “I do bad things and I do them very well” he read and quirked an eyebrow at Sam.  “She lived up to that” Sam said.

“Sorry, man” Dean said.  “You always did like the difficult ones though.”

“Yep, I do like a challenge” Sam murmured and Dean glanced at him.  From the look on Sam’s face difficult or not he wasn’t leaving Lily’s side anytime soon.  But Dean knew his brother and there was definitely another emotion on Sam’s face as well.  Worry, or concern maybe, Dean decided.  It would be interesting to see what Sam had to say tonight.

The boys walked over to the trio of happily chatting girls, Dean watching how Rose made sure to hang onto Lily’s arm.  He smiled.  She really did have the biggest heart, always taking care of people even when they weren’t aware of it.

Rose smiled at Dean and he took her free hand.  Lily glanced over then, seeing Dean on the other side of her sister and glared.  She met Dean’s eyes and Dean had the sudden impression that if Lily was the one with Rose’s powers he would have been flung across the parking lot.  Never one to back down Dean gave Lily a little smirk and held onto Rose’s hand.

Sensing the tension between them Rose started talking to Lily, hoping to distract her.  “Where’s Daisy?  She’s coming right?”

“Ya, Bobby’s bringing her by…”

Charlie hung back with Sam, watching the unlikely trio head towards the building.

“Ya know, if we could film them without them knowing we could make our own reality show.  Probably make a ton of money” Charlie mused.

Sam laughed.  “They look like kids fighting over their favorite toy” he said with a shake of his head.

“Ya and two kids who aren’t used to sharing either” she murmured.

Sam knew Lily and Dean would work this out.  Lily mostly just needed time to adjust.  He knew she was feeling protective of Rose but he also was pretty sure she was jealous too.  She wasn’t used to sharing her sister, not with someone who was as important to her as Dean obviously was.  “Ya, these next few days are going to be interesting” Sam said.  He slung an arm around Charlie’s shoulders and they followed the others inside.

* * *

Once they got in the doors Rose’s nervousness at getting a tattoo returned.  She pulled back from both Dean and Lily, a panicked look spreading across her face.

Seeing the look Dean knew immediately what was going on.  He put a hand on her shoulder, stroking her back softly and talking to her quietly.  “Hey, it’s no big deal, remember?  I promise, it’s not bad.  You can do this.”

Rose looked up at Dean, swallowing down the lump in her throat and trying to still the butterflies that had taken up camp in her stomach.  Seeing the look he was giving her, one of total belief and faith she felt herself calm.  She could do this.  She took a deep breath and smiled.

“I’m just gonna run to the bathroom” Rose said and Charlie, who had just come in the door with Sam, said she would join her.

Lily had been watching Dean and Rose intently since they’d arrived.  When they’d first pulled into the parking lot Dean and Rose had been so wrapped up in each other that Sam had to knock on the window to get their attention.  They were completely in their own little world, not even realizing anyone else was there.  Lily was able to see the deeper connection between them and happy glow around them.  This weekend had obviously been a big step for them.  It should have made her happy but all it was doing was scaring her.  Every protective instinct in her was demanding she warn Dean about hurting her sister, (Warn him away completely if she was honest with herself, which she wasn’t) and when Rose made a detour to the restroom, she took her chance.

Carrie Underwood was singing in the background, something to do with bashing up a cheating boyfriend's car and Dean winced, the words like nails on a chalkboard to a man who loved his car like Dean did.  It was the perfect opening for Lily.  She laughed.  "Rosie loves this song.  It brings back all sorts of memories for her." She winked at Dean. "She actually did use a key, tore up that paint job something awful and wrote a cute little message on the trunk too. But it wasn't a baseball bat she used to break the headlights.  Hmm, what was it?"  Lily put a finger to her lips, as if pondering this thought, then a light bulb practically went off above her head.  "I know!  It was a tire iron.” She shook her head sadly.  “The damage she did to that car was impressive.  Bet Carter never forgot that lesson."  She turned to Dean then, any trace of humor gone from her face and in its place was a look that would have made a lesser man run.  "The moral of the story?  Don't hurt her and especially don’t cheat on her.  I won't have to hurt you if you do.  She can do it well enough on her own."  She paused a second and then added, with a look that was nothing short of vicious “But for the record?  I'd hurt you too."  And Lily turned on her heel and joined her sister in the bathroom.

Dean and Sam both stared after her, shell-shocked looks on both their faces.  Later on the comment Lily made about cheating and how adamant Rose had been about that very issue being a deal breaker for her would click in Dean’s mind.  Right now though he was too stunned to make the connection.

"That may well be the scariest "Don't fuck up with my sister" speech I've ever heard" Sam finally admitted.

Dean nodded, looking like he'd seen a ghost.  "Your girlfriend is scary."

"Ya well, if that story is true so is yours" Sam shot back and all Dean could do was nod.

* * *

Daisy paused at the door, watching the group inside.  Her sisters were in there with Charlie and the boys and they all looked so close.  Despite the fact that Lily and Dean clashed there was no doubt in anyone’s mind that if push came to shove they would have each other’s back.  They may irritate each other and needle each other but they loved each other too.  Daisy sighed.  She had always been the one on the fringe, just slightly on the outside.  The age gap was so big between her and her sisters, that while they were close, she was always the baby who wasn’t quite on the same level.  And while she knew Sam and Dean loved her like a sister, it wasn’t the same kind of bond that they had with Lily and Rose.  She hadn’t been there from the start, hadn’t gone through that traumatic night that had knit them so closely together.  Sam belonged to Lily and Dean belonged to Rose and that was pretty much written in stone.  Even before they had started officially dating they had been paired off that way. Which meant Daisy was eternally the baby, always the odd one out, without that special someone to bond with. 

There was a soft noise behind Daisy and then a deep voice asked “Are we not going inside?”  Daisy glanced back and gave Castiel a small smile.

“In a minute” Daisy said softly.  “I’m just working up my nerve.”  She could feel him behind her, hovering in that protective way he had.  She supposed she should have found it irritating or annoying but she had found she liked it.  It was comforting.  He quite literally had her back.

“I have heard many assurances that small tattoos hardly hurt at all” Cas said reassuringly.  He paused, a frown on his face.  “It’s not the tattoo that worries you thought.  It’s seeing them?”  Daisy nodded and Cas frowned.  “You don’t like keeping things from them.  I understand.”

“Do you?” Daisy asked, a bit of heat in her voice, a touch of color rising to her cheeks.  “Those are my sisters.  That’s my family and I have done nothing but lie and avoid questions from them for almost two weeks now.”  She took a breath then shook her head.  “I’m sorry.  This isn’t your fault.”

Cas smiled at her kindly.  “It’s forgiven.”  He paused then added “I do understand why you’re upset.  Sam and Dean are my friends.  I do not enjoy keeping things from them either.”  He gestured towards the door.  “You wish me to accompany you?”

Daisy nodded.  “Please?  Is that OK?”  She looked uncertain and Cas touched her back softly.

“Anything you wish you just have to ask.”

Daisy gave him a grateful smile and taking a deep breath she pushed the door open.

As predicted Jake did indeed find Rose (A sweet redhead with a great smile and killer legs-His description of the perfect girl.) a delight and he insisted on doing her tattoo himself.  Dean went along with them, to offer moral support and make sure Jake didn’t get too friendly.  For her part Rose found Jake handsome and charming but no one held a candle to Dean and it was obvious from the way her eyes continually found his just where her affections lie.  Getting the tattoo went quicker than she had imagined and as Dean had predicted it was mostly just an irritating feeling and not painful to her.

One of Jake’s partners, a tall blond named Sonya, was doing Lily’s tattoo.  Since she wanted it in a similar spot to her first tattoo they took her in a back room and Sam tagged along.

Charlie, Daisy and Cas sat in reception, waiting their turn, which turned out to be a surreal experience for Charlie.  While she barely knew Daisy she did know Cas.  The dark haired angel was less than chatty however, greeting her but then seeming content to sit and stroke Daisy’s hair.  The two seemed to be in their own little world.  Charlie was more than happy when Jake finished up with Rose and he called her next.  She got her tattoo on her ankle as well and she was impressed with what a great job Jake did.  Not long after Sonya finished with Lily and called Daisy back (Everyone noticed that Cas went with her.) and before they knew it everyone was done.

“You sure you don’t want to come back to the bunker and hang out for a little bit?” Lily asked Daisy, once they were back in the parking lot, studying her and Cas carefully.

Daisy shook her head.  “I really want to get back to Mom.” She smiled at them and both her sisters noticed the smile never reached her eyes.  “You all have fun though.  Bye.”  And without another word she turned to Cas, he put his hand on her shoulder and the two disappeared with Cas’ distinctive sound.

Lily and Rose stared at each other.  “There is something weird going on there” Lily said finally.

“Definitely” Rose said with a nod of her head.

Dean cleared his throat and Rose looked up at him.  “Sammy and I are going to head out from here.  Do you want your bag to take back with you?” At Rose’s nod he jogged over to the Impala and got her bag and brought it back to her.  Lily had opened the trunk of her car and Dean quickly stashed it and shut the trunk.  Charlie had slid into the backseat and Lily kissed Sam goodbye, calling after him saucily as he walked to the Impala “Be good, Sammy.  Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

Sam turned back to her and with a big grin called back “So no stripping on the bar then?” getting a big laugh from the group.

Dean smiled at Rose as he led her to the passenger side of Lily’s car.  He pulled her to him and kissed her soundly.  “Be good” he said then grinned.  “Just don’t do anything that would give me a heart attack, OK?”

Rose reached up and whispered into his ear “I’m only naughty when I’m with you, Dean, remember?”  Then she smiled at him and gave him another quick kiss on the lips before slipping into the car.  Lily took off quickly and Dean was left standing there, shaking his head.  With a soft laugh he walked over to Baby and climbed in next to his brother, a smile on his face and Rose’s kiss still lingering on his lips.

* * *

 


	48. Drinks Keep Coming, Throw My Head Back Laughing

Once they got to the bunker Rose headed straight to her room to drop off her bag and give Sookie a quick snuggle.  Charlie and Lily sat at the kitchen counter, waiting for her and while Charlie was doing something on her phone Lily had a chance to think over the night’s events.

She has felt oddly conflicted tonight, which was weird for her. Usually Lily knew exactly how she felt in any given situation.  Be it happy, angry or whatever she knew her feelings.  But with Dean and Rose tonight she'd felt confused.  Her sister was obviously really happy and that in turn usually made her happy.  It _should_ make her happy.  But when they'd arrived and Dean and Rose had been so wrapped up in each other that they hadn't even realized anyone else was there it had sent a spike of jealousy though Lily so sharp it almost took her breath away.  She had to admit she was used to being the most important person in Rose's life.  Tonight, for the first time she'd realized that could change. That had scared Lily which in turn had made her angry.  She liked Dean, despite the fact they got on each other’s nerves at times and she knew he made her sister happy.  But the idea that she could suddenly not be number one, that was going to take some time to get used to.  Enough feeling sorry for herself she decided with a shake of her head.  She would talk to Rose about this later when they were alone and they would be fine.  For tonight she just wanted them to enjoy themselves and to get the gossip on Rose's weekend away.

Rose came back into the kitchen then.  “Are you guy’s hungry?”  Charlie and Lily both nodded and Rose smiled then slipped her shoes off, nudging them out of the way and opened the fridge.  She didn’t realize it but that drew a smile from Lily.  At home Rose was forever leaving her shoes around the house.  It was completely normal to be ready to leave and have to wait while she went in search of her shoes.  This was the first time she’d seen Rose do that at the bunker and she took it as a sign she was settling in.  “Good, because I’m starving.  We didn’t eat a whole lot this weekend.”  Rose cringed inwardly, realizing that opened up a whole topic she was sure they would get to all too soon.  She tried to change the topic quickly.  “What did you guys eat while we were gone?”

Lily grinned at Charlie, knowing what Rose was doing.  “We went out, got take out.”  Lily shrugged.  “So you didn’t eat much, huh?  Too busy doing other things huh, Rosie?”

Rose rolled her eyes and ignored her sisters’ comment.  “Did you guys even open up the refrigerator while we were gone?  There was plenty in here to eat, you know.”

“Oh ya, my jello shots!” Lily bounced over, pushing Rose out of the way and pulling out a tray of plastic cups, each one holding several blue cubes of jello.

“Can’t we at least eat first?” Rose asked.

Lily shook her head, shoving a cup in Rose’s hand and getting her and Charlie each one before sliding the tray back in the fridge.  “See that’s the brilliant thing about jello shots.”  She held her cup up and struck a dramatic Vanna White pose.  “They’re both alcohol and food in one.”  Charlie laughed and Rose couldn’t help but smile.  She was glad to see Lily looking happier than she had at the tattoo parlor.

“OK fine, but I’m making us something else to eat too” Rose said.  Putting her cup of jello shots down on the counter she opened a cabinet and spotted tortilla chips.  “How about nachos?”

“Oh yes, please!” Charlie said and Lily nodded her head enthusiastically.

As Rose started pulling out ingredients, Lily and Charlie were both starting on their jello shots.  After she swallowed Lily smiled and said “So Rosie, come on we want details.  No holding out on us.”

“Let me at least finish this first OK?” Rose pleaded.  “Why don’t you tell Charlie your bar stripping story?  She has to be confused by Sam’s comment.”  Charlie looked intrigued and interested, which was enough to get Lily around her embarrassment at the story.  While Rose cooked Lily filled Charlie in on the now famous incident and Rose was happy to see they had obviously bonded while she was gone.  She patted herself on the back for getting Lily off _her_ back for a few minutes too.  It wasn’t going to get her off the hook completely she knew but at least it gave her a few minutes to figure out what she was going to tell them.

* * *

Back in town Sam and Dean were settled in at a booth in the corner, a row of empty beer bottles at the end of the table along with a few empty glasses as well, a half full glass of whiskey in front of each of them.  They had gotten to Donnie’s a lot sooner than the girls had gotten to the bunker and where well into their drinks.  Sam’s cheeks were flushed and Dean was feeling relaxed and mellow.

“Seriously Dean, I think she thought I was lying about not knowing where you guys were and about Rose having her phone turned off.  You would have thought I had plotted to have you both kidnapped.”  Sam shook his head.

Dean chuckled, taking a sip of his whiskey.  “Ya, I got the very strong impression your little girlfriend isn’t too happy with me.”

“Aw, she’ll be OK.  She just wasn’t a big fan of you two going off on your own.  She’s just a wee bit protective.”

“And possessive” Dean muttered.

“Ya, that too” Sam agreed.  “But God, she’s hot." Sam sighed happily. "And soft.  And she smells so good, like spicy flowers.”

Dean chuckled.  Sam always did lose his filter when he had a bit too much to drink.  And considering how big he was it didn't take too much to get him drunk.

"Ya, never thought you'd wind up with Lily, I gotta admit."  Dean cocked his head to the side, considering.  "But you guys seem to work."

"Oh I always knew you would wind up with Rose.  Always."  Sam was also prone to bouts of expansive wisdom that he felt the need to share.  "You guys were like our very own version of Romeo and Juliet." He frowned.  "But without the whole suicide thing."

Dean snorted at that.  "Ya, thanks for that Sammy."  He had figured Sam had a reason for wanting to go out tonight and he had a very strong feeling this was not the way the evening was supposed to go.  He was slightly buzzed but Sam was well past that.

Sam looked confused and irritated.  "Why do people think that's romantic?  Stupid kids with messed up families who kill themselves.  That's just fucked up."

"Can't argue with you there."  Whatever the original game plan had been Sam obviously needed this.  Dean wasn't sure why that was but he was fine with letting Sam blow off a little steam.

Sam was now rambling on about how irresponsible it was to let teenagers read Romeo and Juliet in school, something he seemed to take great personal offense at for some reason.  Dean signaled the waitress they needed another round and sat back in his seat and made himself comfortable.

* * *

The girls were seated around the kitchen counter, finishing up the nachos.  Lily and Charlie were both on their second cup of jello shots and Rose was almost done with her first.  So far she had avoided their questions but she had a feeling time was almost up.

“Well we can obviously see Dean decided to devour your neck” Lily said, pointing to the large mark on Rose’s neck.  Rose blushed and rolled her eyes, something she seemed to be doing at Lily a lot lately.

“You guys both look happy” Charlie said, trying for a gentler approach than Lily’s gangbuster style.

Rose smiled softly, tracing her finger over the rim of her cup.  “We are” she said softly.  “It was amazing.”

Charlie smiled at her happily and Lily looked like she was going to bust with excitement.  “Oooohhh finally!” Lily said, almost bouncing in her seat.  “So tell us everything.  I want details.”

Rose shifted on the kitchen stool uncomfortably.  “Guys, I was in the car for a long time.  I’m gonna jump in the shower and get in some comfy pajamas.  And then can we hang out in my room for a bit?  Sookie missed me and my bed is a lot more comfortable than these stools.”

“You’re not just stalling?” Lily asked with narrowed eyes.

“Nope.  Just want to be a bit more comfortable” Rose said, which was _mostly_ the truth.

“OK sure.  We can bring the jello shots down there.  And I could do with some comfy pjs too” Lily said.  “How about you, Charlie?”

“Definitely” she said, picking up the dish that had held the nachos and taking it to the sink.

Rose gulped down her last jello shot and stood up, wincing as she did.  What she really wanted was to soak in a hot bath and then go to bed but that wasn’t going to happen anytime soon.

“OK, see you in 30 minutes” she called back over her shoulder and headed down the hallway to her room.

* * *

Sam had finally wound down about the failings of the literary programs in American high schools and now was currently asking Dean about his weekend away.  Well not so much asking as rhapsodizing about it.

"A whole weekend without research or demons or anything like that" Sam said, dreamily.  "That sounds amazing."

Dean raised an eyebrow at him.  "Well technically it wasn't a whole weekend.  We left Thursday and came back tonight."

"Close enough" Sam said, waving a hand around so dramatically Dean had to rescue his glass from flying off the table.  "Just some time without prophecies...that's all I want." Sam looked at his brother seriously.  "I fucking hate prophecies."

Dean frowned.  Just what the hell had happened while they were gone?  Sam had told him Charlie had unlocked the first website on the drive here but had asked if they could talk about it tomorrow.  Dean had agreed, able to tell from his brother’s face he needed a break.

“Ya, I can’t say they’re really my favorite thing either, Sammy” Dean commented.  “Did something happen while we were gone?”

Sam either didn’t hear him or chose to ignore his question.  “Know what else I hate?”  Sam gulped down the rest of the whiskey in his glass and without waiting for Dean to reply he answered.  “Witches.  They have all these powers and these potions and spells and do they do anything good?  I mean, do we see them…I don’t know, bringing about world peace or giving everyone puppies?  No.  They just put a lot of nasty spells on perfectly nice people and screw everything up for everyone.”

“Yep, you have a point there” Dean said, figuring it was best to let Sam ramble and get this all out of his system.  He took another sip of his whiskey and eyed Sam’s glassy eyes and flushed face.  It could take awhile; he didn’t look to be slowing down anytime soon.

“Erin’s nice.  Why’d a witch want to put a spell on her?” Sam looked genuinely confused and Dean figured it wouldn’t do any good to point out the reason for the spell.  When Sam was sober he knew the answer to that.  Apparently the whiskey had erased it. "She makes good Eggos.”  That got a raised eyebrow from Dean.

“She makes good Eggos?” Dean repeated a question in his voice.  He signaled their waitress they needed another round.  If he was going to be a sounding board for Sam’s drunken ramblings he was going to need a lot more alcohol himself.

“She does.  When we were kids I always remember her making them for breakfast” Sam said, with a fond smile on his face.

“You do know that’s just putting a frozen waffle in a toaster, right?” Dean asked.

“Ya but they just tasted really good when she made them” Sam said, smiling at what was obviously a happy memory for him.

Dean frowned down at his glass.  He knew he and Sam had different views on Erin.  They both cared for her obviously but she generally annoyed Dean.  In his opinion she was too flighty, too willing to let her older daughters make decisions she should make herself. Sam didn’t pretend she didn’t have her flaws but he didn’t feel the need to point them out like Dean so often did.  Erin had always had a soft spot for Sam and had absolutely doted on him when they were little, though Dean had to admit she had been pretty great to both of them when they were kids.  Sam didn’t have the memories of their mom like Dean did so he guessed it was easier for Sam to appreciate Erin.  Dean shook his head, trying to clear his mind from this train of thought.  

Looking up he found Sam looking pensively at the full glass of whiskey the waitress had put down in front of him.  “Lily’s not like her mom, is she?” he asked Dean suddenly.

“Um, not a lot, no” Dean said.  He guessed Lily was a combination of both her parents with a liberal dash of just herself thrown in.  He smiled his thanks at the waitress as she left a new glass in front of him and walked away.

“Daisy is, she’s like Erin.  But Lily’s just kind of like _Lily_.” Sam frowned.  “It’s kind of hard to say what she’d be like. She could probably make good Eggo's though."

Dean shook his head.  “Sammy, OK I’m trying here dude, I really am.  But I have no idea what the hell you’re talking about.”

Sam just waved his hand, as if brushing Dean's comment aside and took another drink.  "Eggo's, Dean.  It all comes back to the Eggo's."

* * *

Rose was curled up on her bed with Sookie curled up on her lap.  She was in one of her favorite nightshirts ("My palace or yours?" It read and Rose was sure Dean would get a kick out of that, given his nickname for her.  It's why she'd taken it with them this weekend but she'd never even worn it.) and had her purple blanket spread across her lap.  Her hair was still wet as she had known there was no way Lily would give her enough time to dry it.  She'd taken some aspirin before getting in the shower because quite honestly she was aching and sore.  She shifted on the bed, trying to get more comfortable.  Every part of her ached, just some more than others.  She smiled to herself as she stroked Sookie's soft coat, her cheeks turning pink when she thought about how they had spent their last few hours at the cabin.  It had been well worth every ache and pain she had now.

"Knock knock!" Lily called out, coming in the room with the tray of jello shots.  She'd changed into a pair of loose shorts and what Rose was fairly certain was an old t-shirt of Sam's.  Charlie came in behind her, wearing plaid pajama pants and a t-shirt from a graphic novel series that Rose loved.

"I love your shirt, Charlie" she said with a smile.

"Thanks" Charlie said with a grin.  "Who's this?" She asked, gesturing to Sookie.

"This is Sookie" Rose said.

Charlie reached a hand out and let Sookie smell it before petting her and she received a soft purr in return.  "Named for the vampire novels or the chef?"

"Both" Rose said, with a smile.  "I figured I could cover two shows I love with that name."

"Oh nice."

"OK enough geek girl talk" Lily said, handing out more Jell-O shots.  She climbed up on the end of the bed, facing her sister.  Rose patted the spot next to her and Charlie sat down, leaning back against the headboard. "Now eat your Jell-O shots and talk" Lily commanded.

Rose raised an eyebrow at her.  "Do you have some secret urge to be a bartender or something?" She asked.  "You're pushing drinks like your paycheck depends on it."

"Well you aren't exactly chatty on this subject" Lily said.  "I figured alcohol would help."

“So you’re basically trying to get me drunk so I’ll tell you details?” Rose asked in disbelief.

“Ya, pretty much” Lily said, matter of factly.

“Lily!”  Rose said and Charlie couldn’t help but laugh.  Rose looked at her and said “My sister is nuts.”  She looked back at Lily.  “You’re nuts, you know that?” Lily just shrugged and ate a cube of jello.

Rose gave her sister an irritated look and said “OK fine…I give in.  What exactly do you want to know?”

“Everything” Lily said bluntly.  “But since you seem to need some coaching…to start with, was it worth the wait?”

“Wait, what wait?” Charlie asked, looking confused.  Rose blushed and Lily rolled her eyes and looked at Charlie with a “Duh…come on” expression.  “Oh!” Charlie said.  “Wait this was the first time you and Dean....He said he was sleeping in here so I just assumed…” Shaking her head she brightened and focused on Lily. “OK now I get why this is a big deal.  Sorry, playing catch up here.”  Turning to look at Rose she said “You really do have to share now.”

Lily laughed and grinned, happy to have someone on her side and Rose groaned and buried her face in her hands.  Finally she looked up.  Two sets of curious determined eyes met hers and Rose sighed in resignation.

“OK, yes, well worth the wait” Rose said.  Lily made a “Come On” motion with her hand and Rose sighed again.  She popped a cube of jello in her mouth and looked down at Sookie on her lap and thought for a second.  “OK, picture the hottest scene you have ever read or seen.”  She looked up at both women on her bed.  “Got it pictured?”  Seeing them both nod she said “OK now picture the most beautiful, romantic, scene.” She paused a second to give them a chance to get the image in their mind.  “Now combine those two.  It would blow both those scenes you’re picturing away” she said with a satisfied grin.

* * *

Dean looked at Sam who was currently grinning down at his almost empty glass.  He looked up at Dean suddenly.

“I got Lily her own dresser” he said proudly.  “I moved it into our room and she put her clothes in it.  And her shoes in the closet.”  He looked serious then.  “She has an awful lot of shoes. But she looks really hot in high heels so it's OK."

Dean took in what Sam had said.  He was pretty drunk himself now, though Sam had moved past drunk several drinks ago.  “That’s almost like moving in together, huh?”  Sam nodded enthusiastically.  “Huh, I think I’m supposed to say something big brotherly here.  Like…” Dean thought about this for a minute then snapped his fingers.  “That’s a big move, Sammy.  You two must be serious.”

Sam nodded his head happily.  Then he frowned.  “Charlie said I was like Dad.  Is that true?  Am I like Dad, Dean?”

Dean looked confused.  “Why would Charlie say that?  She didn’t know Dad.”

“She said I was..” Sam searched his mind for the word but came up blank. He settled for "Bossy, that I tried to push Lily around.”

Dean got what Sam meant then, having had a similar conversation with Charlie himself.  “She didn’t mean you were like Dad, Sammy.  She just meant we both have to try and not make decisions for Lily and Rose."

"That’s awful hard, Dean.”

Dean couldn’t help but laugh at the sorrowful expression on his little brother’s face.  “Ya, but does Lily make you happy?”

Sam nodded instantly and enthusiastically, his face brightening.  “So, so happy.  Even when she’s making me nuts.”

“Then it’s worth it.”  Dean stared down at his glass for a second.  “Hey Sammy, can I tell you something?”  Sam nodded and Dean waited a second, working up his nerve.  He really needed to say this to someone and he figured if he was drunk enough to confess it then his brother may be drunk enough not to remember it tomorrow.  “This weekend with Rose was the best weekend of my life.”  Sam smiled, happy for his brother, then frowned when he realized Dean didn’t look happy.  He looked scared.  “And I’m terrified I’m going to fuck it all up.”

“But you’re so good with her, Dean” Sam said, looking confused.  "You two are both so happy when you're together."

“Ya but you know me, I’ll mess up somehow.  I'm good at the flirting, the sexy texts, the hot pick up lines.  Relationships?  I don't have any idea what I'm doing.  I’ll say the wrong thing, I’ll do the wrong thing and that will be it.  She’ll leave.” Dean took another sip of whiskey, needing the alcohol to numb himself.

“You already did mess up though” Sam said.  “In the garage that day, you were a jerk and she didn’t leave.  She forgave you.”  Sam looked at his brother seriously.  Even in his drunken state this was something he knew.  “People do that for people they care about you know.”

Dean shrugged, not looking convinced.

“You’ve messed up before, Dean and she’s never left.  She’s stayed in your life all these years because you matter to her.”  Sam rolled his eyes.  “If you can’t see that you really are an idiot.”

Dean didn’t say anything and Sam had to point something out.  “You know, you don’t corner the market on messing up.  If Rose screws up are you done with her, just gonna wash your hands of her and walk away?”

Dean looked at him like he was crazy.  “Of course not.”  He seemed pissed off that Sam would even suggest such a thing.

Sam raised an eyebrow at him.  “Oh but you think Rose will?  You mess up and she’s just done with you?  That’s not a very high opinion of Rose you have there, Dean.”

Dean still didn’t look completely convinced but Sam could tell he had made his point. 

“It goes both ways, big brother” Sam said with a smile.  “That’s why it’s a relationship.”

“Hmmmph.”  Dean looked less on edge that he had a few minutes ago.  Whether that was Sam’s words or the whiskey he wasn’t sure, maybe a combination of both.

Sam was grinning at him now, in that mischievous little brother way of his.

“What?” Dean asked, making his best irritated big brother face.

“Best weekend of your life, huh?” Sam chuckled. “Damn, it must have been good.”

Dean grinned and drained his glass.  “Sammy, you can’t even imagine.”

* * *

Roughly an hour later Cas deposited both boys back at the bunker.  Realizing they were too drunk to drive they had called Cas and he’d immediately met them.  He might be in non-communicative mode right now but he wouldn’t see the boys stranded.  He had popped them both into Sam’s room and Sam had immediately fallen onto the bed in a heap and was snoring loudly within seconds.  Cas did his disappearing trick before Dean could even think about saying thanks and Dean stumbled down the hall towards Rose’s room.

The sight that greeted him when he opened the door was one he wasn’t likely to forget anytime soon.  All three girls had drank, eked out a few more details from Rose and laughed till they were too tired to move and had finally all curled up on the bed and fallen asleep.

Three women asleep in the bed he was supposed to be sleeping in...If that didn't sound like the start to a Penthouse forum letter....  “Dear Penthouse Forum, I came home drunk one night to find two red-heads and a brunette cuddled up in my bed...”

"I must be drunker than I realized" Dean muttered. He weighed his options.  He could wake Charlie and Lily and have them go to their own rooms.  Or…

“Sorry Sook, I’m stealing Rosie for the night” he said to the feline watching him through slitted eyed, at the top of the bed.  “But I’m leaving you two other snuggle buddies.”

He walked over to the bed and reached down and scooped Rose up in his arms.  Neither Lily nor Charlie even stirred and Rose simply sighed and snuggled against him.  He walked to the door, flipped the light off and closed the door behind him then he walked down the hall to his room.  He concentrated extra hard, making sure he was walking straight to get them both to his room without incident.  He was proud that he made it there without bumping into anything or tripping once.  He laid Rose on the bed, pulled back the blankets and slipped her underneath them.  He remembered to leave the bathroom light on, leaving the door open a crack, changed out of his clothes, pulled on some boxers and then he slipped under the covers next to Rose.

He pulled her into his arms and kissed her forehead and she finally woke up a little.  “Dean?” she asked, sounding sleepy and confused.

“Ya Baby, it's me." He gave her a soft kiss on the lips.  "You're so, so pretty" he said softly, brushing her hair back.  His words were slightly slurred, his hands a bit less steady than they normally were.

"When did you get home?" Rose asked, snuggling against him.

“Mmm, just little bit ‘go.  Cas brought us home.”  He had propped himself up on one elbow and was weaving his other hand through her hair.  He had a relaxed, lazy smile on his face and his eyes looked sleepy.  He leaned down and kissed Rose slowly, his lips dragging over hers slowly, leisurely, tasting her lips as if she were some exotic delicacy he wanted to savor the flavor of.  He trailed his mouth down to her neck, nuzzling against her.  “Mmm, you always smell like cookies” he murmured.

“Cookies?” Rose asked amusement clear in her voice.

“Mmm hmm” Dean said, licking her neck and getting a gasp from Rose.  “Sweet. I like it.”

“You wouldn’t by any chance be drunk, would you Dean?” Rose asked, automatically arching her neck back to give Dean more access.

“Maybe” he muttered, more interested in licking and nibbling her neck than talking and dear God, at this rate she may never have a mark free neck again.  But his mouth felt like heaven so honestly, who cared?  “Taste sweet too” he muttered.

“Did you..um, did you have a good time?” Rose asked, and why exactly she was trying to carry on a conversation when he was quite literally feasting on her neck was anyone’s guess.  _Shut up, Rose!_ she commanded herself.

“Mmm hmm” Dean said.  He trailed a hand down her side, to her leg and stroked her thigh.  “Your skin is so soft.  I don’t tell you that enough, huh?”  He pulled back and looked at her face in the dim light.  “How pretty you are?”  He stroked her cheek, dragging his fingers over her skin.

Rose shrugged.  “It’s always nice to hear” she said, giving him a shy smile, not wanting to admit how much his words thrilled her.

“You shine” he said simply.

“I’m not a star, Dean" Rose said teasingly.  But Dean looked at her with a solemn expression on his face.

“You are to me.  Everything in my life is so dark and twisted and then there’s you.  Bright and shining, always keeping me from getting lost.”  He looked into her eyes and Rose’s breath caught and her heart stuttered for a second.  He looked so intense, so sincere.  “You’re my star.  You always have been.”

She reached out and cupped his face in her hand and he leaned into it.  “I like that” she said softly.

Dean smiled at her then, a big, radiant smile, delighted he had pleased her.  He reached out and cuddled against her, nuzzling his face into her hair.  “So soft” he murmured, wrapping himself around her.

Rose stroked his back tenderly and after a few minutes she realized Dean was snoring softly.  She laughed to herself; she was going to tease him about this so much tomorrow.  She went to pick her phone up off the bedside table to see what time it was and that’s when she realized they weren’t in her room.  Looking around she figured out they were in Dean’s room, he must have brought her in here when she was still asleep, Rose realized.  She smiled to herself acknowledging how much she liked that he had brought her here.  It felt special, though she was too tired to think about why that was.  He really did make her incredibly happy, even when he fell asleep on her, she thought with a smile.  Then she closed her eyes, falling asleep in Dean’s bed for the first time.


	49. I Pray as I Get Ready For God to Make Me Steady

Rose woke up to the feeling of being pinned down.  She tried to move her head and realized she couldn’t, tried to move her body and that wasn’t happening either.  Opening her eyes it took her a second to remember where she was: Dean’s room.  And it was Dean himself who was keeping her from moving.  Sometime in the night he had slipped down in the bed so that his head was on her chest, resting between her breasts and at least half of his body was on top of her, pinning her to the bed.  One of his legs was between hers and one arm was wrapped tightly around her, his hand actually underneath her body.  He had somehow managed to tangle his other hand in her hair and that was keeping her head pinned to the pillow.  Luckily both her arms were free so she reached up to slowly untangle his fingers from her hair.  It took some intricate maneuvering as Dean had managed to get his fingers really wound in tightly but years of having long hair had given Rose lots of practice at untangling.  Finally his fingers were disentangled and she moved his hand out of her hair and with a sigh of relief was able to move her head.

She peered down at Dean, sleeping peacefully sprawled across her.  She apparently made a comfortable bed, she mused with a smile.  She stroked a hand over the back of his head and he didn’t even move.  She bit her lip, trying to figure out how she could get him to move, as she desperately needed to go to the bathroom.  There was no way she could move him herself so she'd have to wake him enough to get him to move on his own.

“Dean” she said softly, pushing at his shoulder gently.  No response.  She tried again, pushing a bit harder this time.  “Dean.”  Finally she shook him and he eventually stirred a little, raised his head slowly and looked at her with half opened eyes.  She stroked his hair back from his face and smiled at him.  “I need you to move over a little, Baby" she said softly.  "I can’t move.”

He looked at her blearily for a minute, finally mumbled “K” and rolled off of her and planted his face in the pillow, going right back to sleep.  She leaned over and kissed his shoulder then made a quick trip to his bathroom.

Coming back out she looked around the room, trying to spot a clock to give her some of idea of what time it was but she didn’t see one anywhere.  She did a visual tour of the room (Her last time in here had been so brief), taking in the weapons, the records and record player and the fact that it was, of course incredibly neat.  Rose grinned to herself, thinking that Daisy’s room would be Dean’s worst nightmare.

She walked around a bit, her eyes scanning over the pictures scattered around the room.  There was a duplicate of the same one of the four of them that she’d seen in Sam’s room from the day they went to the lake on Dean’s dresser.  Another of the four of them from just a couple years ago was sat next to it, taken in the backyard at their house in January, not long before Rose’s birthday.  It was bitterly cold that day but it had snowed and they had all had to go outside to throw snowballs and generally act like big kids.  Daisy had been out there with them as well and it had been her that took this picture.  Rose wasn’t sure she had ever seen this exact one and looking at it now, she realized this wasn’t long after Sam and Lily had started hooking up.  The chemistry between the two of them in the picture was almost palpable.  They were both staring at each other, ignoring the camera completely, almost seeming unaware it was even there.  Lily had her hands behind her back, trying to sneak a snowball towards Sam and he was grinning down at her, obviously completely aware of what she was doing and seeming amused by it.  The look he was giving her practically screamed he wanted to kiss her.  Rose smiled, thinking how nice it was to have a moment like that captured in a picture.  Looking at Dean and her in the picture next Rose was suddenly absolutely certain she had never seen this picture.  Dean was standing with one of his arms slung over her shoulders and she was pressed up against his side.  They were both bundled up against the cold, in coats, hats and gloves and Rose had a snowball in one of her hands, held up menacingly towards Dean.  (Sullivan girls liked to threaten men with snowballs obviously.) He was grinning down at her and the look on his face was absolutely breathtaking.  Rose bit her lip, staring at it now.  Dean was looking at her like she was the most beautiful, exquisite thing he had ever seen.  His face was completely unguarded, completely awash in emotion and it took her breath away.  She really wanted to steal this picture.  How had she never seen a copy?  Daisy had been the one to send everyone pictures; had she purposely sent them only certain ones?  She wondered if Dean had seen the picture from this day that she had.

In her picture, obviously not taken long after this one since Sam and Lily were still in the same pose, Rose no longer had the snowball in her hand.  Rose couldn’t remember why or even what had happened to the snowball, but something had caused Dean to laugh, a complete full bodied laugh with his head thrown back and in the picture she was resting one hand on his chest and she was staring up at him with a smile and an expression that gave away every feeling she had for him.  No one could look at that picture and not know that she adored him.  Maybe she’d show it to him one day.  Rose wondered if they had seen these pictures two years ago, well before they got involved, if it would have made them act sooner.  But maybe they weren't meant to; maybe they hadn't been ready then.  Everything with them did seem to have its own time table.

Moving on, Rose saw on the shelf above his bed there was a picture of the boys with Bobby that made her smile.  Bobby looked as proud as could be in the picture and the boys were smiling, big, genuine smiles.  There was one of the boys with their Dad when they were young there as well and she looked at that one awhile.  When she was little she saw John as the man who took the boys away and that made her not like him.  He’d been at their house quite a few times when she was growing up, mostly after hunts and for dinner, or dropping the boys off or picking them up but she couldn’t say she had known him well.  Rose had been an observant child and had heard quite a few conversations that she was sure her parents hadn’t realized she had heard or was old enough to understand.  She had known her parents hadn’t approved of John dragging the boys all over the country and had encouraged him to leave them with them as much as he wanted.  (Early on Rose guessed they had tried to get John to settle down near them, from things she heard later, but that had never happened.)  Until the boys were teenagers there had been times that Sam and Dean had stayed with them for weeks, sometimes even months at a time, had gone to school with the girls and had some periods of a somewhat normal childhood.  Her mom had even turned one of the guest rooms into a bedroom for the boys and it had stayed their room to this day.  Time and distance notwithstanding, Erin had been Mary’s best friend and she did have some pull with John because of it and had used to it to full advantage when it came to the boys.  Despite their differences the older she got the more Rose appreciated what her mom had done for Sam and Dean.

Moving onto Dean’s desk she smiled sadly when she saw the picture of Dean and his mom.  She had been so pretty and it was easy to see in the picture how much she loved Dean.  Rose wished she remembered her more than just the one, brief memory she had of her.  She bit her lip, remembering she did have a picture back at her house that she wanted to give to Dean, if she ever got back there for any amount of time.  _Do you really want to go back?_ a small voice asked and Rose shushed it.

Dragging her eyes around the room she caught sight of one more picture on Dean’s bedside table.  She blushed, seeing a picture of her and having no idea when it was taken.  In it she was in her room, under the stars and she was smiling at the camera, a full, genuine smile.  She didn’t remember it even being taken but she liked the idea that he had her picture next to his bed.  Now she just wanted to know when it had been taken.  She was going to quiz him about that later.

Rose looked at Dean, who was soundly asleep and decided she would try to sneak down to her bedroom and at least grab her phone.  She eased out of Dean’s room and walked quietly down the hallway to her room.  She pushed her door open quietly, surprised to find Lily and Charlie asleep in her bed. Thinking back to last night she did remember laying down on the bed but after that her next memory was waking up in Dean's bed.  She guessed Lily and Charlie had fallen asleep in her room as well.  Sookie was perched at the top of the bed, between their heads, a feline chaperone.  Rose swiped her phone quickly off the bedside table and grabbed her two books as well and snuck out before she woke anyone up.

Turning her phone on she saw it was ten in the morning.  She figured she had the least to drink last night of the girls (She’d only had a few jello cubes where as Charlie and Lily had eaten quite a few.) and Dean had obviously drunk a lot and Rose was willing to bet Sam had as well.  She was most likely going to be the only one up for awhile.  Humming softly, she headed towards the kitchen where she made herself some toast.  She had several texts from Chastity that she responded to while she ate.  Chastity wondered where she had disappeared to and why she wasn’t answering any of her texts.  Rose explained that she had been away on an unexpected weekend trip but was home now.  She knew she wouldn’t hear from Chastity till much later today.

Finishing up her breakfast she called Bobby, wanting to get details about tonight.  Usually Dean or Sam would do this but they were asleep and there was no reason she couldn’t do it.  He picked up on the second ring.

“Hey Rosie” he said, sounding genuinely pleased to hear from her.  “How are you, sweetie?”

“I’m good, Bobby.  How are you guys doing over there?”

“We’re hanging in there.”  Bobby’s voice sounded a bit strained now and Rose frowned.  "Did you and Dean enjoy your trip?” Bobby asked before Rose could pursue the upset in his voice.

Rose blushed.  “We did, Bobby.  Thanks.  It was wonderful.”  Bobby obviously caught the heartfelt happiness in her voice.

“That’s good to hear, sweetie.  You two deserve it.”  He cleared his throat then, having reached his limit for emotional topics, and adopted his usual gruff tone.  “You calling about tonight?”

“Ya, everyone else is still asleep, so I figured I would get the details.  Think I’m the only one without a slight hangover.”

Bobby laughed.  “From what Cas said the boys were three sheets to the wind.”

Rose laughed with him. “I didn’t see Sam but Dean was pretty wasted.”  Rose resisted telling Bobby that Lily and Charlie were both asleep in her bed.  While she knew it was perfectly innocent it didn’t necessarily sound it.  She didn’t want Bobby thinking they were living in some kind of party house.

“Let Dean know the Impala’s out in front of the bunker, safe and sound” Bobby said.  “So Heather, that's the witch, she got in late last night and is getting some sleep.  She said if you can be here tonight about seven that should work.”

“OK Sounds good” Rose confirmed.  Then she hesitated, not sure if she should ask but in the end she had to.  “Bobby, how’s my mom?”

Bobby sighed.  “She’s agitated, all worked up.  Heather is sure this spell will work though so once it’s done she should be back to normal.  She’s a strong witch too, knows what she’s doing.”

Rose and Bobby said their goodbyes and hung up.  Rose cleaned up the kitchen a little and thinking back to the day she had Lily had been hung-over she decided letting Dean sleep as long as possible was the best plan.  She weighed her choices at the moment: Camp out in the living room, hang out in the library, or curl up in bed and read next to Dean.  Well if there was ever a no brainer…  Not wanting to text anyone in case she woke them up, Rose got a piece of paper from the library and left a note on the kitchen table that said simply “Meeting Bobby at 7.”  Then she grabbed her phone, her books and a bottle of water and went back to Dean’s room.

She snuck into the room quietly and saw he was still sleeping soundly, so she slipped back under the blankets, placing her phone on the bedside table (and setting an alarm just in case she fell back asleep) and then picking up the next book in the series she had been reading this weekend she sat back against the headboard and snuggled under the blankets next to Dean.  He turned towards her immediately, as if they were magnets and he was drawn to her.  Smiling at him Rose positioned herself so he could rest his head on her stomach comfortably.  His body settled against hers like it was made to rest there and Rose put her book down just to watch him for a minute.  He looked peaceful, content even and those weren’t words one would usually use to describe Dean Winchester.  But here, laying halfway on top of her (This seemed to be his desired position these last few hours.) he looked settled, without a worry in the world.  Rose reached a hand out and stroked his hair and he snuggled against her, nuzzling his nose against her stomach, his one arm wrapping around her waist.  She felt a wave of amazement wash over her, so grateful she got to see this sweet, vulnerable side of Dean that so few people got to experience.  She loved that she had always gotten to see him without a lot of the barriers he put up around others.  Rose knew he was a strong, fierce hunter, that just his name demanded respect in the hunter community.  Watching him with a gun in his hand or when he was demonstrating how to throw a punch she could see the strength and the experience he had, could see how easily he slipped into that role and how it fit him.  He looked strong and capable, someone to be feared and respected.  But she saw the other side of him more often than not, the sweet, caring man who touched her with gentle hands and listened to her fears (and even admitted his own sometimes) and smiled at her so beautifully it made her catch her breath.  There was a softer side to Dean that she cherished and appreciated.  Even the way he had approached things in their relationship showed that.  He had taken his time, gone about things so carefully and worked so hard to do everything just right.  No one had ever made her feel more special or important.

She stroked his cheek softly.  He was a truly amazing man and she was lucky to have him.  She just hoped she took as good a care of him as he did of her.  At the feel of her hand on his cheek Dean gave a soft sigh in his sleep and seemed to snuggle into her a little more.  Rose smiled.  For all his tough exterior Dean was someone who needed touch, had always been that way even back when they were little kids.  It was one reason looking at the stars together had been so perfect; it was their ritual, their routine and it just so happened to include them cuddling together.  Rose was a physically demonstrative person by nature and had grown up in a family who gave kisses and hugs freely and often.  When the boys had been at their house they had naturally been included in that and it must have been dramatically different than when they were with John.  The older they had gotten the more Dean had seemed to soak up and revel in her hugs and casual touches and while Rose was sure their growing attraction had played a small part in that she didn’t think it was the biggest factor.  People just weren’t as affectionate with men and certainly not ones who could be as intimidating as Dean.  She hadn’t actually realized how much Dean seemed to react to simple touches till they were adults.  They had been in the kitchen and he’d been letting off steam about some horrible job he and Sam had just had and she’d just brushed her hand over his back as she walked by and squeezed his shoulder and with that one simple touch she felt his whole body relax.  That same night they had been sitting next to each other on the couch and Rose had been casually stroking his hair and she noticed for the first time how he seemed to move into her touch, as if his whole body was trying to get closer to her, seeking out more of it.  Rose stroked his hair now and smiled down at him.  She liked that her natural instinct to touch those she cared about so often meshed so well with what Dean needed.  It was a perfect fit.

Looking down at Dean now, Rose’s expression turned thoughtful.  She liked to think of herself as a peaceful person, someone who would try to work out a solution before fighting.  True, she had a temper but she was fairly good at controlling it after years of practice (And thank God for that.  Her powers with an out of control temper would be a recipe for disaster.) and she was more likely to yell at someone in anger than to ever turn to violence.  But Rose was loyal to a fault; her devotion went to the very core of who she was.  She admitted to herself in her quite, more introspective moments that there were a small handful of people on this earth that she would do anything for.  Her sisters without question, her mother and Bobby of course.  Sam and Dean had always been on that list, Sam as the little brother she loved and Dean for the special spot he held in her life, in her heart, that no one else did.  But now, watching him sleep on her, looking so open and unguarded, she felt a wave of affection and protectiveness wash over her so strong that she realized if anyone even thought about hurting him she would want to kill them.  That thought both scared her and felt right at the same time.

Picking her book back up with a sigh she softly ran her hands through Dean's hair and picked up where she had left off.

* * *

 A few hours later Rose had finished her book and started on the next one when her phone vibrated and she picked it up to see a text from Lily.

_You ok?_

_Ya, I'm in Dean's room.  He's still asleep._

_K, your rooms empty now.  I'm going to find Sam._

_Something tells me he's probably passed out in his room.  Our boys got wasted last night._

Rose picked her book back up, ran her fingers back through Dean's hair and settled back down, determined to let Dean sleep as late as possible.

* * *

Lily padded silently down the hallway bunker, headed for her and Sam's room with a mug of coffee in each hand.  She needed coffee when she woke up and had made a quick stop in the kitchen to make some.   Knowing Sam was the same she’d brought some along for him too and she’d texted Rose to say there was a fresh pot, figuring Dean would want some when he woke up.  The chance to sleep in this morning had pretty much wiped away any after effects of the Jell-O shots last night and she was feeling OK, though she would have happily gone back to sleep if she could have just to avoid tonight.  She had a feeling Sam wouldn't be feeling so great if he had gotten as wasted as Rose said, though he'd had quite awhile to sleep if off so maybe he wouldn't be too bad.  She entered their room quietly and was instantly greeted with loud snoring coming from the direction of the bed.  Sam was sprawled across it, still dressed in the clothes he’d been wearing last night and still sound asleep.  Lily debated whether she should wake him or not. It was after two in the afternoon and they didn't have to be at the hotel till seven according to Rose's note so they still had some time.  Deciding on a middle ground Lily put the mugs down on a bedside table and crawled up on the bed next to Sam.  She snuggled against his side and stroked the back of his head.

"Sammy" she said softly.  No response.  Finally after a few tries she got a non coherent mumble.  "I'm going to go take a shower, Babe.  There's coffee on the table if you want it."  She kissed the back of his head and headed towards the bathroom, taking her coffee mug with her.  She got the shower going, took a few sips of her coffee, then quickly stripped her clothes off and got under the hot spray.  While she washed, her mind went over tonight's plan.  She was nervous about tonight, worried about how her mom would act, what she would say.  The last blow up between her and Rose had been so bad, so painful that Lily hated to even think about it.  She was nervous about the spell removal too.  Having seen how easy it was for a spell to go wrong she wouldn't relax till she saw with her own eyes that her mom was definitely herself again.  Overall she was just dreading tonight, wishing there was some way to get out of it and knowing there wasn’t, which pissed Lily off to no end.  She hated being trapped.

Lily frowned then, thinking about the unsettling prophecy about Cas and Daisy and their odd behavior last night.  Daisy had seemed OK when they'd spent the day together the other day, a little quieter than normal maybe but OK.  Turning the water off and stepping out Lily tried to remember what if anything Daisy had said about Cas.  Taking another sip of her coffee and wrapping a towel around herself, Lily remembered she had mentioned him, some casual comment about him watching a movie with her.  Lily frowned.  That didn't seem important but there was definitely something odd going on.  Daisy couldn't keep a secret to save her life, had never been able to. (You never told Daisy something if you didn’t want everyone else to find out.  It was a Sullivan rule.) Brushing her teeth Lily decided she was going to insist Daisy come back to the bunker with them tonight.  She'd talk to Rose and get her on board with the plan and they would get the truth out of Daisy.  There was no way she could keep from spilling the details of what was going on to her two sisters.

Feeling better now that she had a plan Daisy stepped back out into the bedroom, coffee mug in hand to find Sam laying on his side, blinking at her sleepily.

"Hey" she said with a smile.  "Look who's awake."  When Sam just stared at her blankly she walked back into the bathroom and re-emerged with a glass of water and some aspirin.  Sam took them from her with a grateful smile and swallowed them quickly.  Lily took the empty glass from him, put it back in the bathroom, set her mug down on the table and then climbed up on the bed next to Sam.

"So I take it you and Dean shut the town down last night, huh?" Lily asked with a grin.

Sam groaned and rested his head against her.  "I don't even remember getting home last night."  He pulled his head back to look at her questioningly.  "Were you in here all night?”

Lily shook her head.  “We all fell asleep in Rose’s room.  I just woke up a little bit ago and came looking for you.”  She stroked Sam’s hair back from his face.  “How are you feeling?”

Sam leaned his head back against Lily.  “My head hurts and I’m tired.  Which I guess considering how much I drank isn’t too bad.  This sleeping most of the next day thing is a great hangover cure.”  He wrapped his arms around Lily and pulled her closer to him, burying his head between her breasts.

“How much did you drink?” Lily asked.  It had to have been a lot for him to still feel this bad.

“No idea.  Lots of whiskey” Sam mumbled, snuggling against her, making himself comfortable.  “I kept talking and the drinks kept coming.”

“So you turn into a chatterbox when you’re drunk.  Good to know.  I’ll remember that next time I want to get something out of you” Lily said with a smirk.  Speaking of which... "Did you get anything out of Dean about him and Rose?” she asked curiously.

Sam thought about it.  “Ya, I think so?”  He shook his head.  “Give me some time to clear my head.  I’m sure it’ll come back to me.”

Lily rolled her eyes at him.  “You need to get in the shower, Sam.  You smell like a distillery.”

Sam shook his head and buried his head between her breasts.  “Aw, Lil, no.  I’m so comfortable.  I don't wanna move.”

“Well you need to.  We have to meet Bobby at seven and that’s a few hours from now and trust me, you definitely need a shower before then.”  Untangling herself from his arms Lily sat up and grabbed her mug from the table and gulped down the rest of her coffee.  Sam sat up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist.

“You could take a shower with me” he suggested, kissing the back of her neck.

Lily laughed.  “I just got out of the shower, Babe.  And besides, didn’t you have a headache?”

“Aspirin helped” Sam said with a shrug.  “And you could just come along with me for safety’s sake.  I mean, I did drink a lot last night.  Taking a buddy in the shower would probably be the responsible thing to do.”  Sam kissed his way up the side of her neck and then pulled her back into his arms, so he could look into her eyes.  “Please?”

Lily sighed, a small smile tugging at her lips.  He gave her the damn puppy dog eyes and she didn't have a prayer of saying no to those.  It looked like she was talking another shower.

* * *

Across town Daisy was sitting in the hotel room, curled up under a blanket on the small couch.  The TV was on low but she wasn't paying any attention to what was on.  She could hear Bobby and her mothers' voices rising and falling from the other room.  Heather, the witch who was doing the spell removal, had told Bobby that Erin couldn't have anything in her system tonight.  She hadn't had anything to calm her since yesterday afternoon and she was growing more agitated as time went on.

Daisy closed her eyes, shutting out the voices.  She wished desperately that she were back home, in her room, back when her biggest worry had been whether she should enroll for classes at the local college in the fall.  She'd grown up with the knowledge of the prophecy but it had always seemed a far off, distant thing, something that affected her sisters more than her.  It was kind of cool to think that she could wind up with this mystery power that no one really understood, sounding like something from an exciting movie or book.  Seeing what those powers had turned out to be Daisy didn't envy Rose in the slightest but she wasn't thrilled with the visions and dreams either.

Daisy sighed.  She just wanted tonight to go smoothly and wanted them all to go back home.  She felt tears well up in her eyes as she knew in her heart that wasn't likely to happen, partly because neither of her sisters seemed in a hurry to leave.

She heard the rustle of feathers and looked up to see Cas standing in front of her.  He cocked his head at her and upon seeing the tears in her eyes he sat beside her on the couch and pulled her to him and Daisy nestled in his arms and tried to keep her tears at bay.

"I don't understand, Cas" she said.  "I just want to go home and they both seem happy to stay here."  As usual Daisy didn't need to explain what she was thinking.  Cas knew.  From what she understood angels as strong as Cas could easily read humans minds, but apparently the way her thoughts appeared to Castiel was different.  They were vivid and fluid, appearing without any effort on his part.  It hadn't been that way at first, or maybe all the confusion of their first meetings had covered it up but after spending a little time together the odd veil of confusion lifted (Cas believed they had met earlier than they were meant to.  It was his answer for their odd reaction to each other.  Daisy for her part had quit trying to figure it out.) and her thoughts and feelings became quite clear to him.  The biggest surprise had come when she realized she could hear his thoughts and sense his emotions too.  Cas had looked absolutely astounded.  ("For a human to be able to hear an angels thoughts is an unthinkable thing" he'd said, shaking his head.). They tended to carry on conversations half in their heads, speaking aloud mostly out of habit and because both had admitted they liked hearing the others voice.

Cas stroked Daisy's hair softly.  "You are all very different, Daisy.  It's true; Lily especially seems to have settled here.  But don't fret.  Things change and nothing is set in stone."  He leaned close to her ear and said softly "I can promise you will be back home again one day."

Daisy gave him a small smile, knowing he was offering comfort, reminding her of what she already knew.  "But who knows when that day will be" she murmured.

Cas nodded. "It's true, we don't know when that will be but still perhaps it's some small comfort?"  He looked at her questioningly and Daisy nodded.  His eyes were so concerned, so badly wanting to offer her something to make her happy; that fact alone comforted Daisy, reminded her she wasn't alone in all this.

"I had a dream early this morning" Daisy said, fidgeting with the end of Castiels’ tie.  "It was the same as the others" she said, flicking her eyes up to his and then back down again.

"The voice?" Cas asked and Daisy nodded in confirmation.  Cas stroked her back, knowing that no words would offer comfort in this case.

"Tonight" Daisy began haltingly.  "Do you think it will all go OK?" Her eyes flitted toward the shut door that connected the two rooms, where raised voices could still be heard on the other side.  "I really want my mom back to normal" she said softly.

"Bobby trusts this witch and I didn't sense anything amiss about her when I met her last night."  Cas looked at her curiously.  "Have you seen something?"

Daisy shook her head.  "Nothing, not one single vision or dream."

"Then I believe it is safe to assume things will go as planned" Cas said, kissing the top of her head.  "And there will be many people there who will be prepared if it doesn't."

Daisy smiled at him, grateful for his willingness to listen and his advice.  "Thank You, Cas.  Can you stay for a little bit?  It's a few hours till things get started."

Cas nodded.  "I can stay for awhile."

Daisy smiled at him, a brighter smile than before and snuggled into his arms and turned to the T.V., picking up the remote and searching for something to watch.  When Daisy came across a show they had watched together before they both settled back on the couch.

After a moment Cas frowned and said "I am fairly certain that none of my brothers or sisters can turn into stone statues, nor would they steal someone's future.  Whoever wrote this show obviously cares little for facts."

Daisy just laughed softly.

* * *

Rose was halfway through her second book when Dean finally began to stir.  She had her hand resting on the back of his head when she felt him start to move and she laid her book down on the bedside table and moved her hand off his head.  A moment later he lifted his head slowly, blinking owlishly up at her.

“Hey Sweetie” she said, smiling softly at him.  After a few seconds Dean gave her a sweet, sleepy smile.

“Hey” he said his voice rough with sleep.  “What time is it?”

“Late” she said, allowing herself to run her hand through his hair again.  “I figured after your night of drunken debauchery you needed all the rest you could get.  Are you feeling OK?”

Dean snorted.  “More like a drunken therapy session.  I spent the whole night listening to Sam ramble.  And ya, I feel OK.  Sleep does wonders." Dean smiled at her gratefully then said “I need to call Bobby-”

“Done” Rose said, cutting him off.  “I called him when I got up earlier and got a time for tonight.  We need to be at the hotel at seven.”  Dean looked slightly surprised and Rose raised an eyebrow at him.  “I’m actually pretty good at making plans and handling details, Dean.  I appreciate you and Sam taking care of everything so far but I can help, you know.”

“Hey, you’ll get no argument from me” Dean said.  “I just guess I’m pretty used to me and Sam handling all that kind of stuff.”  He smiled at her then.  “Kind of nice to have someone else do it.”  That brought a slight blush of pleasure to Rose’s face and Dean’s smile grew.  He loved that blush.  He shifted slightly and became aware of the fact that he was laying halfway across her body.  “Have I been like this all night?” he asked.

“Oh no, I woke up with you even further on top of me” Rose said with a grin.

“Hmm, well at least drunk me has good taste in where I sleep” Dean said.

“Drunk you is pretty sweet actually” Rose said with a smile.  At Dean’s raised eyebrow she added “You told me I smell like cookies.”

“Cookies” Dean repeated and Rose nodded.  “OK I definitely need to up my drunken compliment game.”

“Oh I don’t know” Rose murmured quietly, her hand stroking Dean’s hair softly.  “The cookie comparison aside you did pretty well.”

Taking in the soft smile on Rose’s face Dean combed through his fuzzy memories of last night and hit upon what had most likely brought that smile to her face.  He'd told her she was his star.  Ya she was right, not a bad job.  He smiled up at her and placed a soft kiss on her stomach and Rose felt her heart flutter.  He really shouldn’t be able to do that so easily.  He pulled his head back then, reading her nightshirt and grinned at her.  “Oh I like this, Princess” he said, winking at her.

Rose grinned at him.  “I kinda thought you would.  I had taken it with us this weekend but never really got a chance to put on anything to sleep in.”

Dean’s eyes darkened at that statement and he gave her a sexy smile.  He started to speak and Rose put a hand up to his lips before he could.  “Before you come up with some great sexy plan, Baby, we both really need to get a shower and then you definitely need some food.”

Dean’s smile grew.  “That sounds like a great plan to me.  It just so happens I have a fully functioning shower right through that door.”  He nodded toward the bathroom with his head.  “Come on, take a shower with me, Rosie.  All the good clean fun you could want.”

Rose laughed and shook her head.  How was she supposed to say no to this man?

Knowing he’d won Dean smiled at her.  “Do you know if there’s any coffee made?” he asked, sitting up and stretching.

“Yep, Lily, your fellow java addict made some” Rose said, standing up.

“Great.  You go ahead and get in.  I’m gonna get some caffeine and I’ll join you in a minute.”

Rose headed to the bathroom as Dean shrugged into a robe and headed off to the kitchen.  She got the water running and slipped out of her clothes and got under the hot spray.  She heard Dean come back into the bedroom, saw him come back in and brush his teeth at the sink then he disappeared back into the bedroom. She heard the shower door open and went to turn towards it but the next thing she knew she was being pushed against the wall, the coolness of the tiles a shock against her skin.  She gasped at the feel of the length of Dean’s body pressed along her back as one hand grabbed both of hers and held her wrists above her head.  Dean’s lips were near her ear, his words a rough caress.

“I seem to recall you liked me holding your wrists like this, Princess” he said, his tongue darting out to lick her earlobe and she couldn’t help but moan.  His teeth nibbled at her ear, then moved down to her neck, his teeth nipping gently at her skin.  He found the spot on her neck that he knew drove her crazy and licked at it sensually.  She whimpered softly and moved her hips back against him, gasping at the feel of the hard length of his cock rubbing against her from behind.  Dean chuckled, the vibrations against her skin going through her.  “See what you do to me, Baby?  God, you make me crazy.”  His free hand came up to caress one of her breasts, his fingers teasing her nipple, sending sparks throughout her body.  “If I let go of your wrists are you going to be a good girl and keeps your hands against the wall, do what you’re told, Rosie?”

Rose nodded her head eagerly and Dean let go of her wrists.  “Keep your hands right there, Baby.  Don’t move them.”  He moved his mouth to her ear again to growl “Otherwise you’ll be in trouble and we know what happens then, don’t we?”  He felt a little shiver go through Rose’s body and he grinned.  He moved back and dropped kisses across her shoulders, both his hands teasing her breasts now, tugging on her nipples and drawing moans from her lips.  He moved his mouth down, dragging his tongue down her spine and leaving small kisses along the way, drawing soft noises from Rose along the way.  He moved his hands down too, holding her hips still with one and stroking between her thighs, softly, teasingly with the other, causing Rose to let out a small moan.

“Does that feel good, Baby?” he asked, standing back up and kissing her neck again.  “Is that what you want?”

Rose groaned in frustration as Dean’s fingers barely touched her, grazing her skin lightly and doing nothing but tease.  “No, I need more...please, Dean.”

“More what, Sweetheart?” Dean asked his grin evident in his voice.

“I need you to touch me more.  You’re teasing, Dean” Rose pouted.

“Mmm, maybe I am.  But you’re cute when you’re being teased” He pressed up against her again and his fingers started stroking inside her. “You’re so desperate for this” Rose moaned at the feel of his fingers, stroking her, building up a fire.  “You just love the feel of my fingers inside you, don’t you, Baby?” Dean said, his lips against her ear, his fingers moving smoothly now, stroking and thrusting inside her.  Dean loved watching her like this, her face all flushed, breathing ragged, so lost in his touch that she wouldn’t notice anything else that happened around them.  “I want you to come for me, Baby” Dean murmured, his thumb pressing against her clit.  “Come with my fingers deep inside you.”  Rose gasped Dean’s name loudly, as her body shook as she came apart in his arms.  Dean kissed her neck softly, stroking her through her orgasm.  He gave her time to come back down then ran his hands smoothly back up to her breasts and stroked them softly.  “OK?”

Rose nodded a dreamy smile on her face.  “Amazing.”  Rose relaxed against him slightly and Dean murmured in her ear:

“Keep your hands on the wall, Sweetheart.  I didn’t tell you to move them yet.”  His words sent a thrill through Rose’s body, which was still coming down from her orgasm and was extra sensitive right now.  She made sure her hands were still in the place they had been to begin with and smiled at Dean over her shoulder.  His hands stroked her breasts more firmly and his hands tugged on her nipples, drawing a moan from Rose.  “I have plans…just trying to give you a second to catch your breath, Baby” Dean said, rubbing his aching cock against her bottom.

“I’m good” Rose ground out, letting her head fall back on his shoulder and twisting her neck so she could kiss him.  Their lips met with a flurry of sparks, both of them moaning against the others lips.  Their mouths opened and their tongues met, twisting and dancing together in a combination unique to them.  When they drew their mouths apart Dean grinned at her, his sexiest grin and Rose felt her pulse quicken.

Dean pulled back, his hands on Rose’s hips.  “Bend over and slide your hands down the wall, Baby" he said, his voice husky with desire.

Rose’s eyes widened but she did as he said, adding a little wiggle to her hips as she did.  Dean smiled, taking that for the invitation it was.  When she was bent over with her hands firmly against the wall Dean smoothed a hand over her bottom, the marks he’d left on her the day before still visible.  “You were such a good girl, Rosie, keeping your hands where I put them.  So no punishment for you, Baby, but maybe just one little smack…”  He let his words trail off and then pulled back his hand and landed one crisp, hard smack on her bottom.  It made a loud noise on her wet skin and Rose let out a noisy shout of surprise at the sharp sting.

Dean took a minute to admire the picture Rose made: bent over like she was with the water trailing over her flushed skin, his handprint showing up vividly on her ass, her hair trailing down her back, just waiting for him.  She was a sight to behold and Dean felt a rush of happiness and lust course through him.

He settled his hands on her hips then and with one thrust he buried his cock inside her deeply.  They both let out loud moans at the feel of their bodies joining.  Dean thrust inside her a few times, loving the feel of being inside her.  Then he reached out a hand and tugged on her hair, pulling a groan from Rose.  “Take your hands off the wall and put them behind your back, Baby.”

His words caught Rose off guard and she hesitated.  “Won’t I fall though?”

“You won’t fall, Baby.  I won’t let you.  Trust me.”  And those last two words did it; Rose immediately did as Dean said, pulling her hands off the wall and putting them behind her.  Dean instantly grasped her wrists, pulling her tighter against him and Rose groaned at the feeling of him going even deeper insider her.  She felt helpless in this position and she would have thought that would have scared her, made her nervous.  But this was Dean and he had her, he wouldn’t let her fall.  She knew that as surely as she knew her own name.  She was helpless and vulnerable in this position, very much at Dean’s mercy but instead of scaring her that very idea sent a thrill through her; the feel of him holding her wrists like he was sent spikes of lust coursing through her.

For his part Dean was in awe at the way Rose immediately trusted him when he said he had her, and then he was immediately overcome with a huge wave of lust and desire.  The way Rose was positioned, the way he held her arms, he was controlling her body completely and damn if that wasn’t hot.  He figured from her reaction to him gripping her wrists this position would turn her on but it was certainly having a hell of an effect on him too.  That strong possessive voice inside his head was growling out “Mine” at the sight of Rose like this and he didn’t try to quiet it.  He made sure not to pull her arms back too far or too tightly but he drove into her fast and hard, groaning at the feel of her walls tightening around him.  Rose was moaning loudly and Dean let out a loud moan of his own, her desire kicking his own up another notch.  His hips were slamming into her now, pushing them both closer to the edge and Dean could tell from the way Rose was tightening up she was close.  A few more thrusts and she came with a loud, drawn out moan of his name, her whole body shaking at her release.  Dean pounded into her, feeling as if his body was on fire, every thrust seeming to send shockwaves through him, until suddenly with a shout of Rose’s name he felt his own orgasm rip through him, so hard he literally saw stars.  After a few seconds he eased out of Rose and pulled her to a standing position slowly, turning her to face him and pull her against him as he slumped against the wall.

They stood there under the streaming warm water, catching their breath in each other’s arms.  Once he could breath normally Dean's lips found Rose's in a soft, gentle kiss, his lips caressing hers tenderly, then he pulled back slowly and rested his forehead against hers, staring into her eyes.

"Wow" Rose said softly, looking up at Dean, her eyes big and bright.

Dean brushed her hair back from her face.  "Wow is right" he said with a grin.

After that they washed each other, their hands gentle on each other’s skin with lots of kisses and touches mixed in.  Dean all but purred when Rose washed his hair and she reacted just as favorably when he returned the favor.  Rose who was used to her vanilla shower gel and floral shampoo couldn’t help but find Dean’s much more masculine smelling shower gel and shampoo an interesting change.  When Dean leaned down to kiss her neck and realized that she now smelled like a combination of both their scents he couldn’t help but groan.  “I swear you’re gonna be the death of me” he moaned, his hands tangling in her wet hair and pulling her head back as his lips roamed over her neck.

“Dean, we can’t…we don’t have time” Rose murmured, her hands grasping his upper arms.  She knew from his groan and the way he was touching and kissing her where this was heading and she was struggling to keep her senses about her when it would be so much easier to get lost in Dean, especially when that was really all she wanted to do.

Dean groaned again and pulled his mouth from her neck, resting his head on top of hers.  “Damn it, you’re right” he muttered.  He rested his forehead against hers, breathing deeply, his eyes full of wonder and lust.  “The things you do to me, Baby” he said with a shake of his head.  He gave her a quick kiss on the lips then turned with a sigh and shut the water off.  He ushered Rose out of the shower and wrapped a towel around her before grabbing one to secure around his hips.  Rose started to head out into the bedroom but Dean snagged her around the waist and pulled her back to him, surprising her.  He lifted her up to sit on the sink and threaded his hands in her hair.  “Just one more” he said, kissing her deeply.  Kissing Rose was quickly becoming an addiction; his drug of choice and he couldn’t get enough.  They kissed passionately for several minutes, their lips and tongues intertwining, stoking the fire between them that didn’t seem to ease or let up at all.  When Dean moved his mouth to Rose’s neck and placed his hands on her bottom she stopped him, knowing that would lead them down the path of no return.

“Uh uh” she said, putting her hands on his chest and stopping him, with a rueful smile.  “If you start that I won’t be able to stop, and we need to.  We really have to get ready, Dean.”

“I know, I know” Dean muttered, giving her a petulant look.  Pulling back he lifted her down off the sink and patted her bottom.  “Want me to go grab your bag from your room?"

Rose smiled at him gratefully.  She hadn't been looking forward to traipsing down the hallway in her nightshirt.  "Yes please.  I still have a change of clothes in there from this weekend.  Oh and my makeup bag is on the counter in the bathroom if you could grab that too."

“You got it, Princess.”  Dean shrugged into his robe and took off on his mission.  He was smiling to himself as he moved quickly down the hall to Rose’s room, amused at how they just couldn't get enough of each other.  He has to admit, he was enjoying it.  He managed to make it to her room and back without running into anyone and he opened his door to find Rose laying back on his bed, still in the towel and singing along to music she had playing on her phone.  “Mission accomplished” he declared, dropping her duffel bag on the bed next to her and taking her makeup bag into the bathroom.

Rose smiled at him gratefully and they both started getting ready, Rose brushing her teeth while Dean got his clothes out, Rose blow drying her hair while Dean was shaving, with lots of kissing and touching along the way, both of them moving around and with the other in a dance you would have thought they had done countless times before.  Dean was ready before Rose and while he knew he should go and get some food ready he just couldn't make himself leave.  Instead he lay on the bed and just enjoyed watching Rose finish getting ready.  He watched as she moved about, in various stages of dress and realised he liked seeing her here in his room.  He enjoyed getting ready with her for the day (albeit a very, very late starting day.). He loved her being a part of his everyday life, even if it wasn't his normal routine lately (though normal in his life was far from it.).  Rose added a spark to things, a missing touch of warmth he hadn't known was missing till now.  He loved the bunker, had thought of it as home since day one, but having Rose here made it something even more, though Dean was at a loss of how to describe it.  He frowned, as Rose started pulling her hair up into a ponytail, trying to find the right words and giving up after a few minutes.  There was enough going on this evening with the spell removal and all, he would figure it out later.  Rose slipped her shoes on and turned to Dean with a smile.

"Ready, Baby?" Dean asked, rising from the bed and taking her hand.

"As I'll ever be" Rose said, her nervousness showing for the first time.

Dean leaned down and gave her a sweet, reassuring kiss.  "Then let's get this show on the road" he said and they both walked out of the room, with Dean shutting the door behind them.  Neither had any way of knowing that the next time either of them set foot in that room just about everything would have changed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay in this chapter. Between the holidays and trying to make sure these last few chapters all worked together it took me much longer than I planned to get this up. It's a long one so hopefully that makes up for the delay. The next few chapters should be up pretty quickly.
> 
> Hope everyone had a great winter holiday!


	50. I Scared Folks Half To Death

Sam slid into the backseat of the Impala and squeezed Lily’s knee.  She moved over so she was pressed up against his side and he slipped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her even tighter against him.  This is where of years of knowing someone payed off: She might not have said anything but Sam could tell she was nervous.

“Everybody ready?” Dean asked from behind the wheel.  Rose gave a small, hesitant nod and Lily shrugged.  Dean looked at Sam then, hoping for a more positive response.

“Ready” Sam said firmly, nodding his head at Dean.  He was ready to get this done and over with.  As soon as they got Erin back to herself there would be one less thing weighing on all of their minds.  Dean took a deep breath and giving Rose a smile he turned the key in the ignition and Baby roared to life.  “Everybody wave to Charlie” Dean said, indicating the redhead standing in the doorway of the bunker.  Despite their invitation Charlie had decided to stay behind.  She was still working on the second website and she didn’t seem overly keen on dealing with a witch either.  Everyone in the car raised their hands obediently and waved and Charlie waved back before going back inside with a smile.

Dean reached out his arm and slipped it around Rose’s shoulders and she smiled and snuggled up against his side, needing to feel him beside her.  Lily wasn’t the only one with a case of nerves.  Rose had been able to push the idea of tonight out of her mind, mostly due to Dean.  She hadn’t really started getting nervous till they were all eating and then she'd barely picked at the quick dinner that she and Dean had put together, her mind bringing up one horrible image after the next of how tonight could go.

Lily tried to swallow down her own nervousness, knowing Rose had to be feeling even worse than she did.  “Hey Rosie, I was telling Sam we need to make a trip back to Hastings pretty soon.  I don’t know about you but I need to get some more of my crap.”

“Ya, I could use some more clothes” Rose said.

Lily let out an indelicate snort.  “You already have twice as much clothes with you as I do.  I know.  I did your laundry while you were gone.  What did you bring with you, half your closet?”

Dean’s eyes had widened in alarm at Lily’s initial statement about going back to Hastings and he caught Sam’s eye in the mirror now.  Sam gave a slight shake of his head: No he hadn’t agreed to this and no, he didn’t want to argue with the girls about it right now.  It seemed to be a good distraction for them at the moment.  Seeing how both girls were caught up in the topic Dean gave a slight nod of his head, agreeing.

“I only brought a little bit of clothes, Lilly" Rose was protesting.  “How many shoes did you bring with you?”

“Hardly any!” Lily said and Sam couldn’t help but let out a small laugh at that, picturing the way her shoes had already taken over their closet.  If she brought many more back with her she was going to need a separate room to hold them all.  Sam figured the original Men of Letters would be rolling in their graves at that idea.  Then again he supposed Lily herself would give them heart attacks.  As Charlie liked to point out their name didn't exactly scream progressive.

Lily shot Sam a little glare and he just kissed her forehead then whispered to her “I like the shoes you’re wearing now.  You need to make sure to keep them on later tonight” and he grinned wickedly at her.  Knowing exactly what he had in mind he got a smile in return and Sam leaned back and relaxed while Lily went back to her conversation with Rose.  While they talked he looked over what Lily was wearing.

From her black heels (Complete with silver hardware hammered into them), to her skintight black jeans and grey t-shirt that screamed attitude (“Be Badass Every Damn Day” – Was there ever a more Lily like quote?) she was dressed for battle.  Sam glanced at Rose in the front seat then.  He supposed she was dressed for battle in her own way too.  Like her older sister she was wearing black jeans but instead of heels she was wearing pink sparkly converse sneakers on her feet. Her shirt was pink with a silhouette of Sherlock on it with a quote about angels from the show emblazoned across it and her hair was pulled back in a ponytail.  As far as Sam could tell she had no makeup on.  (Though admittedly, Sam was no expert on this matter.  Lily had rambled on about some girls who Sam thought had nothing on their faces just going for a natural look which confused him.  Wouldn’t a natural look be well, just natural?  Lily had rolled her eyes at his comment and told him he didn’t get it which he was more than happy to admit was true.)  Lily had on full makeup, down to her signature red lipstick. Sam had a roommate when he was at Stanford, a psych major who had a huge fascination with how people used clothes as barriers and image makers and Sam guessed some of his ramblings had stuck.  He grinned to himself, thinking that these two sisters were so completely opposite in how they looked when they faced the world.  You could sum them both up quite easily by what they wore.  Rose was either in fangirl t-shirts or retro looking clothes that made her look like she was fresh from a 50’s era TV show and Lily either went for the sex bomb look or the badass, fighter image.  Sam admitted to himself he found it fascinating.  These girls put more thought into one outfit than he and Dean put into their entire wardrobes.

“Charlie wants to come too” Lily was saying to Rose when Sam tuned back into their conversation.  “I told her about all the pictures we have of these two growing up and she’s dying to see them.”  Lily threw a little smirk Dean’s direction and he scowled at her in the mirror.  Sam rolled his eyes at their antics.  Those two loved to pick at each other.  At least they were being civil to each other today.

Just as they were pulling up to the hotel an auburn haired woman was exiting her hotel room and heading toward the one they were going to.  Everyone in the car stared, unable to help themselves.  This was a woman who would garner stares wherever she went.  She was dressed in a red and black dress that laced up the front and Rose was instantly envious, wanting the dress desperately.  Her shiny, auburn hair was mostly piled up on her head, with a few loose curls framing her face, in a style that looked casual and effortless and every woman knew was anything but.  High heeled black lace covered boots completed her outfit, giving her both a stylish and feminine flair.  They couldn’t see her face clearly, nor make out the tattoo that covered her whole upper left arm but they had all seen enough to be impressed.

“Wow, can I be her when I grow up?” Rose breathed after a second and Lily nodded from the backseat. 

“I want her boots” Lily said, surprising no one.

"I want her dress" Rose said, to no one’s surprise.

Sam shook himself then.  “OK guys, let’s go inside.  You can lust after her clothes up close and in person.”  Everyone seemed to come out of their stupor then and gather themselves enough to get out of the car.  Sam put his arm around Lily’s shoulders and gave her an encouraging smile and she did her best to return it and Dean met Rose at the front of the car and took her hand, leading the way to the door.

Bobby answered the door as soon as Dean knocked.  He looked tired and harried and Sam winced guiltily.  He hated that he had been stuck with Erin acting so crazy.  Bobby ushered them in and because he and Lily were behind her Sam saw Rose’s reaction upon seeing Heather in person for the first time.  Her spine straightened and she sucked in a deep breath.  Dean for his part, being next to her and holding her hand, _felt_ her straighten and saw her eyes widen.

Heather glanced up immediately when they entered.  Lily noted to herself that she was stunning, big eyes, full red lips and cheekbones anyone would kill for.  Nice figure too, filling out that gorgeous dress in all the right ways.  On closer inspection her tattoo was a beautiful tree with lots of intricate trellis work and an interesting symbol beneath it.  She was the only one thinking about Heather’s looks though as everyone else was focused on Rose and Heather’s reaction to each other.  Lily was actually going to say something to Rose about her when she noticed what was happening.

Rose had unconsciously walked toward Heather, pulling Dean with her as their hands were still linked and Heather had walked towards Rose as well.  They both stopped in the middle of the room, looking each other over with odd, curious expressions on their faces, both their heads cocked to the side.  “You must be Rose” Heather said and Rose only nodded, too busy staring to answer properly.  After a few seconds Heather reached out a hand and placed it near Rose’s head, closing her eyes and smiling, seeming to feel something that no one else could.

“Oh look at all that lovely power coming off of you, baby girl.  God, you’re just a tidal wave of pure power.”  She opened her eyes then and smiled at Rose.  “And you don’t even know it yet, you don’t even have a handle on it.  Damn, you are marvelous now but you’re going to be a sight to behold once you own it.”

“Is that what that is around you?” Rose asked her voice full of wonder.  She motioned with her hand around Heathers body and Heather smiled at her.

“You can see that?”  Heather asked and Rose nodded.  “Can you feel it too?”  Again Rose nodded.  “Well damn, you are something.”  Heather looked impressed and Rose felt pleased by that though she honestly wasn’t sure why.  Heather smiled at her.  “That’s power you see and feel, sweetie.  Impressive isn’t it?”  And she winked, making her words sound more factual and sassy than arrogant.  This woman knew how strong she was and how good she was at what she did and felt no reason to hide it.  Watching from her place beside Sam Lily decided she liked her on the spot.  Heather turned to look at Dean then, who had been standing at Rose's side, feeling very much out of place while she and Heather had been talking about powers and things he couldn’t see.  “Sorry about that, didn’t mean to pull you into some weird, witchy power talk.”  She smiled at Dean and offered him her hand.  “I’m Heather.”

Dean found himself smiling back as he shook her hand, despite his general discomfort around witches.  “Dean.”

Heather made her way over to Sam and Lily and introduced herself to them, managing to charm them both (She gained big points with Lily by complimenting her on her shoes.) before going back to what she was working on before they came in.  She had some supplies spread out on a table and looked to be getting everything in order.  Rose and Dean had moved over to the side of the room, their hands still intertwined.

“Is Daisy next door?” Lily asked Bobby and at his nod she whispered something to Sam then slipped out from under his arm and headed in that direction.

Rose bit her lip, the worry clear in her eyes.  “Hey” Dean said softly, pulling her to him and speaking softly for her ears only. “It’s gonna be ok.  Look, you got a bad ass witch over there.  After meeting her do you have any doubt she can do this?”  Rose shook her head.  “Right.  So she’ll do the spell and things will be good.”

“I’m just worried about what she’ll say to me in the meantime” Rose whispered and the sadness and worry in her eyes just about killed him.

“Aw, I know, Baby” Dean said, wishing there was a way Rose didn’t have to go through this.  “But whatever she says, that’s not your mom talking.  It’s the spell.  Just remember that, OK?”  Rose nodded but didn’t look convinced, but Dean was determined to at least make her smile.  “And just think, once we’re done here we can go home and I’ll let you ravish me” he said with a wink.  That got a smile and a small giggle from Rose and she relaxed a little bit.  Satisfied with that Dean turned her in his arms so he was standing behind her with his arms locked around her waist, keeping her pulled tightly against him.  This way they could both see what Heather was doing (Dean had no interest but Rose seemed intrigued.) and Dean could still keep her in his arms.  Dean looked up to find Bobby watching them.  He glanced at their intertwined hands and how Dean was holding Rose tightly against him and he smiled and gave Dean an approving nod.  Dean flushed slightly, liking the show of approval and returned the nod with a grin.

Lily and Daisy came into the room just then, their heads bent close together discussing something intently and Sam couldn’t help but notice what Daisy was wearing, just to round out his mental inventory of the Sullivan girls attire: Black jeans (Obviously required clothing today) and a bright green long sleeved shirt with an image of a fairy and the words “Eat my Pixie Dust” on it along with green polka dot shoes.  Sam decided her clothes were somewhere between Rose and Lily – Half sweet, half attitude with a dash of Daisy cuteness thrown in.

Lily was motioning Rose over now, her hand on Daisy’s elbow and Rose extracted herself from Dean’s arms with a regretful smile thrown his way.  She headed over to her sisters to help Lily with her plan of talking Daisy into coming back with them that night.  She put her hand on Daisy’s shoulder and as soon as she did Heather’s head snapped up and her eyes flew to the three girls.  They were engrossed in their conversation and didn’t notice her watching them but Sam and Dean did.  She eyed the girls closely for a few minutes and then turned to Bobby, saying quietly “The second the redhead walked in the room the power level in this room shot through the roof.  As soon as those three touched it went even higher.  You weren’t kidding.  These girls are something else” and then with a slight shake of her head she turned back to her table.  Sam and Dean looked at each other, then at Bobby who just shrugged.  Obviously he had told Heather something about the girls and they’d blown away her expectations, as they always seemed to do.

"So basically we're dating powder kegs" Dean muttered to Sam.

"Ya, and you're dating the most potent one of all" Sam said with a chuckle.

"Oh but they're awfully pretty powder kegs" Heather said, turning and winking at the boys.  She clapped her hands then, drawing everyone's attention.  "OK we're ready.  Bobby, if you could go get Erin, please.”  With a nod of his head Bobby went to get the girl’s mother.  “I need everyone to stand in a circle, holding hands, and I want all three sisters next to each other.  All that power you three have is gonna make this ten times easier."  The girls looked at each other, still not used to hearing how powerful they were and shrugged, then moved to stand where Heather indicated.  Daisy wound up directly next to the witch, her back to the door.  She whispered something to Lily who nodded and stood on her right making sure Rose could have Dean on her other side.  Daisy knew how rough this was for Rose and figured any comfort Dean could give her was a good thing.  Dean gave her sisters a smile for that then took Rose’s hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

Bobby came back in then with Erin in tow.  As soon as she saw Rose her eyes lit up with a look none of the girls had ever seen on their mothers face.  It was a look full of anger and something akin to hate.  Bobby steered her towards Heather, knowing she would need to be standing next to her for the spell.  Rose had shrunk back as soon as her mother’s eyes had landed on her and both Dean and Lily were squeezing her hands tightly, giving her all the support they could.  Heather caught onto what was going on quickly and just as Erin opened her mouth to speak Heather muttered "Oh we'll fix this" and she rattled off a quick slew of words and Erin shut her mouth suddenly with a startled look on her face.  Heather patted her shoulder reassuringly.

"Don't worry.  That silence spell will wear off as soon as the other spell is lifted."  She looked at Rose and smiled.  "No reason we can't make things easier."  Rose smiled at her gratefully and Dean found to his surprise that he had one witch he could truly say he liked.  She'd just made this whole ordeal a little easier for his girl and that got her big bonus points in his book.

Heather took Erin's hand then and Bobby took her other one, with Sam coming to stand between him and Dean.  Once everyone had joined hands Heather looked around and said "All I need from you all is silence and to keep your hands joined. The spell isn't long but I need to not be interrupted once I start.  If I mess up just one word we’ll have to start over all the way from the prep work and that was a bitch to do.”  She rolled her eyes to to let them know how much she did not want to do that again.  “It's a strong spell Erin here has placed on her so be prepared she may faint or be dizzy or just react strongly in some way once it's lifted.  Everyone ready?"  Seeing agreement on everyone's face (Save for Erin who Heather wasn't looking at) Heather nodded.  "Then let's begin."

The spell removal turned out to be pretty anticlimactic.  Heather rambled off some words in Gaelic and there was a slight wind that seemed to blow through the room and Erin's eyes glowed a strange color for a moment and then they shut.  She stumbled forward a step then opened her eyes and looked around, confused.  "Where am...what's happening?" she murmured, her voice obviously returned to her.

Heather gave a triumphant smile and looked at the girls.  "Congratulations girls, you have your mother back."  Then dusting her hands off she added "And my work here is done."

Erin's eyes had been sweeping the room and as they lighted on her daughters a look came over her face that was a combination of love and deep remorse.

"Oh girls!" She rushed towards them and Dean stepped back, knowing they needed this time and not wanting to get in the way.  Daisy and Lily immediately embraced their mother but Rose hung back, still wary.  Despite knowing it had been the spell behind her words they had still hurt her deeply and she wanted to be sure before she set herself up for more of the same.  Erin pulled back after a second and turned to Rose with tears in her eyes.

"Oh Baby, I'm so, so sorry.  Those words I said, I’m so sorry baby."  Upon hearing these words Rose fell into her mother’s arms.  "I love you so much, Rosie and I'm so sorry" Erin murmured against Rose's brow.  There were tears all around for the Sullivan women after that and a group hug that didn't look to be ending anytime soon.

Heather was standing back, watching the happy reunion with a pleased, proud expression on her face and Dean had the sense she truly was enjoying this.  He knew from personal experience it was nice to see someone you had tried to help get their happy ending.

He turned to Sam and Bobby and said "Well that went better than I expected."

Bobby just grinned at him and Sam said "Ya, that's a nice change for once."

Before they could celebrate too much Daisy let out a loud gasp that was quickly followed by her exclaiming loudly "Oh no, I'm so sorry guys!"

* * *

Rose blinked and everything changed.  She was still in her mother’s arms with her sisters arms wrapped around them but this was no hotel room in Kansas.  Pulling back from her mother and sisters Rose took in fine antique wood, marble floors and expensive paintings on the walls.  They looked to be in the foyer of an expensive townhome somewhere.

“Daisy” Lily asked “Where are we?”

Daisy shook her head, looking extremely upset.  “I don’t know!” she all but wailed.  “I’m so sorry you guys.  I didn’t know this was going to happen.  I didn’t even know what was happening till I felt us being pulled in.”

“Hey” Lily soothed, rubbing her hand down Daisy’s back, feeling her anxiety wash over her.  “It’s OK.  We’re all OK, right?”  Lily looked around at their group, Bobby and Erin both looked shocked and Heather looked very intrigued.  The rest of them just looked mildly concerned.  This time at least they knew what was happening to some extent.  “Don’t worry about it, Days.”  Daisy gave her sister a grateful smile and seemed to gather her wits about her, calming down quickly.

Dean and Sam came up to the girls then, Dean taking Rose’s hand and Sam rubbing Lily’s shoulder.  “You OK?” Dean asked Rose and she nodded.  “OK so we’re back in dream land again.  Why this time?”

“Wait, this has happened to you guys before?” Heather asked, her eyes wide, and got casual nods in reply.  “You all lead some interesting lives.”

“You don’t know the half of it, sister” Dean said, with a smirk.

“I don’t know why we’re here” Daisy said, looking as clueless as the rest of them this time.   This was obviously really bothering her, that she didn’t know why they had been pulled into this particular vision.

Sam wandered to a window and looked out.  "Well I know _where_ we are” he said.  Whatever he saw out the window had given him enough clues to say assuredly “London, or somewhere in England at least.”

“Aw, well there you go” Dean said, smiling at Rose. “With your family I can cross the Atlantic without stepping foot onto a plane.  That’s a perk.”

There was a loud shriek from the other room just then, unlike anything most humans had ever heard.  It wasn’t entirely human, not altogther animal and utterly bone chilling.  Their group as a whole jumped then moved in that direction.

“Don’t most people run away from noises like that?” Heather asked Sam, with a questioning look.

“Ya, we’re not most people” Sam said with a wry grin.  He couldn’t help but notice that Heather was going right along with them in the direction of the noise.

Walking into the next room they entered what appeared to be a large, lush living room where all the furniture had been shoved to the edges of the room to clear space in the center.  There were small groups of people chanting softly in four different corners of the room, and in the center, on top of a symbol that had been drawn on the hardwood floor stood a woman with lush, flowing black hair dressed in a long, shimmering white gown.  She might have been considered beautiful except for the undisguised rage pouring off of her in waves and the flash of black eyes that made it all too clear she was a demon. As their group entered the room she let out another shriek that sent a chill down Rose’s spine, freezing her to the spot.  The groups of chanting figures seemed to shrink at her rage, obviously terrified of her anger and Rose knew how they felt.  She didn’t want to be anywhere near that woman.  Just the sight of this woman made terror course through her veins.  Lily and Daisy’s gaze flew to hers, feeling her fear go through them as well.  “She can’t see us” Daisy said softly, coming to Rose’s side and rubbing a hand over Rose’s back soothingly.  Rose smiled at her thankfully.  Dean wrapped his arms around her; he may not be able to feel her fear like her sisters could but in his own way he could sense it, in the way only the closest people to us can.  He held her to him tightly, hoping to alleviate some of her anxiety.  They watched as the woman paced her anger and agitation evident.

“What the hell is this and who the fuck is she?” Dean demanded.  He had been calm, perfectly OK with going with the flow of the whole vision thing to see where it took them up until Rose got scared.  Now he wanted some answers.

"I'm going to go out on a limb here and say she's the witch who cursed Erin" Heather said after a minute.  Then listening to the chanting she added "Wait, no she's not the one who did the initial spell but she's trying to cast a stronger version of the original one now.  She’s convinced the first spell wasn’t strong enough so she's got these poor idiots trying to boost her power" she said, motioning to the chanting people.

Everyone looked at Heather in surprise and she just shrugged.  "Hey I'm a witch.  I know a spell when I hear one." She grinned then.  "Shame it's not gonna work."

"How do you know that?" Erin asked, looking worried.  She had just gotten the spell removed and barely had any time to enjoy being spell free.  The last thing she wanted was another one placed on her.

"Little something I added to the removal spell I did.  It safeguards you against the same sort of spell again" Heather said, looking smug.  And she had every reason to be smug Dean thought with what he admitted to himself was no small amount of respect.  This was one smart witch.  "It's been my experience that someone who will cast a spell like that will try again.  So it just made sense to me to cut them off before they got another chance."  Heather eyed the ranting demon with no little distaste.  "So ya, it's my fault she's so pissed."

"You're pretty awesome" Lily said, her admiration clear in her voice.

Heather laughed her smile big and happy.  "Thanks.  I try." 

The woman in the center of the room shrieked again suddenly and stalked toward one of the groups of people chanting.  She swiped a hand at them with a muttered few words and they collapsed as one to the floor, blood pooling around them, obviously dead.  As they watched she stalked around to the three other groups, repeating the same process.  She stopped then, said something that sounded like “Plan B” aloud, then looked around the room and nodded her head as if to say her work here was done.  Then she smiled coldly, smoothed her dress, straightened her hair and left the room without looking back.

Rose looked around at the carnage the demon had left in her wake, dead bodies laying like broken dolls, drowning in pools of blood.  She felt her body shake and her stomach churn, overcome at the death and destruction that had been so casually dealt out.  Rose was glad Dean still had his arms around her, giving her something to hang onto; she wasn't sure she would still be standing otherwise.  She turned to face him, hiding her face against his chest so she didn’t have to see the bloodshed in the room anymore.  Dean tightened his arms around her, knowing she wasn’t used to the horror and gore he saw all too often.  He hated that she had to see it now.

Suddenly a strange look passed over Heather’s face and without another sound she collapsed into a heap on the ground.  Everyone looked at her in shock for a second and before they could react Daisy gave a small strangled sound of her own and collapsed to the ground as well.  Erin rushed to her side and Bobby went to Heather’s unconscious form, both desperate to help in some way.  Daisy was holding her head, barely seeming to be hanging onto consciousness and a few seconds later Rose slumped against Dean and grabbed her own head as pain shot through her skull.  He grabbed her, fear coursing through him.  "Rosie?"  She looked at him with pain filled eyes, confusion and fear written across her face.

"It hurts" she managed to get out.  "My head feels like its being ripped apart."

Before Dean could respond Lily let out a cry of her own, bending over and holding her head.  Sam wrapped an arm around her just to keep her on her feet, his face full of concern.  Whatever was happening it was affecting all the sisters.

There was a noise from the entryway just then and Dean, who was closest to the door with Rose, moved over to peer out to try and see what was going on.  Three people were out there, knives in hand, black eyes showing.  So not people, Rose thought dazedly to herself, but more demons.  These demons seemed confused as if they weren't sure how they had gotten here.  Kind of like us, Rose thought.  Then with a shrug and a glance at each other they started ripping apart the entryway, knocking over furniture, ripping into the paintings with their knives.  A noise from upstairs drew their attention and they started heading up the stairs, leaving a trail of damage in their wake.

“Three demons” Dean said, turning back around to tell the others.  “They went upstairs-“

A soft sound came from the entryway and Dean turned, ready to fight while still holding onto Rose.  He was surprised to see Cas striding towards them.  "Cas, what the hell?"

Cas strode right past him, going to Daisy immediately, bending down and lifting her up in his arms.  He looked intently into her eyes but his words carried to all of them.

"There are demons in the hotel room attacking.  They got pulled into your vision after they touched you and are currently doing grave damage to all three of you.”  He glanced at Lily and Rose, making it clear who he was referring to.  Then he looked back down at Daisy.  “You have to pull us out of this vision now."  Despite the fact that Daisy was barely clinging to consciousness she nodded, seeming to take what he said in stride.  She reached out a hand towards Lily and Sam caught onto what she needed and ushered Lily to her side. 

"Dean" Sam said.  "You need to bring Rose over to Daisy.  She needs their joint power to get us out."

Dean glanced at Daisy's ashen face and doubted she had the power to do much of anything, but seeing no other alternative he picked Rose up and brought her over.  Daisy laid a trembling hand on each her sisters’ arms and with a harsh jolt they all found themselves pulled out of Daisy’s vision.


	51. But They're Damn Well Gonna Know My Name

Dean came to in what looked like a war zone.  His head was aching and it took him a few minutes to get the room to stop spinning.  He wasn’t sure what had gone wrong but the trip back from Daisy’s vision had knocked him on his ass.  Once his eyes could focus properly he immediately looked for Sam, an ingrained habit his entire life.  He found him holding Lily, blood on her face and dripping down her neck and back, looking like she had taken part in said war. Seeing that Sam was OK (The only blood on him having come from Lily) and had a handle on Lily's injuries Dean looked for Rose. She wasn’t in the spot next to him where she had been before the vision so he scanned the room.  He came across Erin, holding an unconscious and blood covered Daisy in her lap, that sight causing alarm to course through Dean's body.  What the hell had gone on here?  Cas had said something about demon’s breaking in.  Had they done all this?  Next he saw Bobby besides Heather's limp body, with Cas leaning over her.  If Daisy was covered in blood then Heather looked like she had bathed in it.  As Dean watched Cas reached out a hand and touched her forehead.  She immediately sat up, her lungs sucking in air, her eyes wide and shocked looking.  It was only then that Dean realized she had in fact been dead and Cas had brought her back to life.  With a nod of his head Cas stood and turned to face Dean's direction, his eyes focusing on something behind Dean’s head.

Still not seeing Rose, Dean followed Cas' gaze and found who he was looking for: Rose, standing across from three demons; the center of just about everyone's attention.

Dean had known Rose practically his entire life but he had never seen her like this before.  She seemed to be almost vibrating with power and energy and if he wasn't mistaken a large amount of anger too.  Shaking his head, desperately trying to clear it, Dean tuned into what was being said.

"-not them.  They aren't important.  It's just you we want." The dark haired demon in the front was saying, in what Dean had to assume he thought was a placating tone.  "We'll let them all go if you'll just come with us without a fight." Dean almost laughed at that.  He'd obviously never met a Sullivan woman.  It went against their very fiber to do anything without a fight.

"We're sure you don't want anyone else to get hurt" the lone female demon spoke up, when Rose just stared at them but didn't reply.

"Oh no, I think enough people have been hurt" Rose said quietly.

Dean struggled to sit up, wanting to go to Rose.  Whatever was going on she needed someone by her side.  His movement caught Sam's eye and he leaned over, offering him a helping hand and helping Dean to a sitting position.

"You OK?" Sam asked softly and Dean nodded.

"What the hell is going on?" he asked, matching Sam's low tone.

"Three demons burst in here while we were in Daisy's vision, killed Heather, stabbed all the girls-"

"Just the girls?" Dean interrupted his surprise clear in his voice.

Sam nodded.  "They were nearest the door so I guess that's who they got to first before they got sucked into Daisy's vision.  Apparently they came here to get Rose and I guess they figured she’d be more pliable if she was injured."  Sam nodded to the confrontation taking place.  "She jumped up as soon as she came to and confronted them and they've been talking every since."

"You didn't think maybe you should try and stop her?" Dean asked, giving Sam an irritated look which Sam returned.

He jerked his head towards Lily.  "I kind of had my hands full here, Dean and besides" he cleared his throat and said "When I made a move to get up Rose wouldn't let me.  Said this was her fight and to stay out of it." 

"When you say she wouldn't let you-"

"She slammed my ass back down on the ground without lifting a finger" Sam clarified and Dean’s eyes widened at that.  Rose wasn’t messing around apparently.

Cas came up behind them then, reached a hand over Sam and touched Lily's forehead.  The bleeding stopped immediately as she turned her head to look at him swiftly.  She gave a quick nod of thanks then turned her eyes back to her sister.  Dean realized Sam hadn't just been holding her because she was hurt, but restraining her to keep her from jumping into the middle of Rose and the demons despite the fact she had obviously been pretty badly injured.  Ingrained instincts, Dean thought dimly.  He wasn’t the only one with them.

Cas placed his hand on Sam's head next, then Dean's and he was glad to feel his head clear and the ache disappear.  "Thanks, Cas."

Cas nodded.  "The trip back from Daisy's vision was hard on everyone."  He eyed Rose then.  "She'll need healing but I need to get Daisy to a hospital very soon."

Dean turned to look at him, confused by his statement.  "Why don't you just heal her?"

Cas looked at him intently and Dean had the feeling he was missing something important.  "Daisy's injuries are deep and severe.  They will take much time to heal and she will need a combination of modern medicine and angelic healing to recover completely."  He lowered his head and said quietly "The day we knew was coming is finally here and Daisy acted admirably."

"What?" Lily's head whipped his way at hearing this.  "What are you talking about?"

Before Cas could reply to Lily’s question Rose's voice rose behind them.  "Is that a threat?" They all turned to watch her.

The female demon shrugged, saying “Take it however you want” and Dean couldn't decide if she was really that stupid or just that arrogant.  She didn't seem to view Rose as any kind of threat.  If you were just going on looks normally Dean could understand that.  Rose looked so sweet it was hard to envision her as dangerous.  But these demons must have known something about what she could do when they came after her and anyway, at the moment she looked anything but harmless.  She looked ready to explode and take everyone else with her.  "There's a high price on your head by a lot of different demons.   You'll be found eventually” the female demon said.  “The longer you stay with your family the more people will get hurt and you’ll have only yourself to blame.  Eventually someone else will die."

Rose’s eyes widened slightly and she flexed her hands and then smiled, just as Dean finally made it to his feet.  It suddenly seemed to dawn on the female demon that there must be a reason this girl was wanted so badly and maybe it wasn't a good idea to piss her off.  She started backing away slowly, causing Rose’s smile to grow.

"That may be true" Rose said softly, her quiet voice sounding deceptively calm.  Dean could see her whole body was shaking and she looked to be struggling to stay on her feet.  Blood was pouring from stab wounds on her back he realized now that he was standing.  How she was still on her feet he had no idea.  "But it won't be today and it certainly won't be by you.  You hurt people I loved, people I would die for, so you won't be stepping foot outside of this room."  The smile on Rose's face was unlike any smile Dean had ever seen on Rose before.  It was dangerous, without an ounce of warmth behind it.  Dean was having a hard time believing this was the same girl that just a few days ago kept pulling her punches in training for fear of hurting him.

The demons seemed to understand suddenly that they were in danger but before they could make a move to escape Rose spoke in a commanding tone.  "You can't leave, in fact you can't move unless I say so" and instantly all three were frozen to the spot.

Dean decided maybe he should say something here as Rose looked to be close to spinning out of control.  He could step in, take care of this so Rose didn't have to and Cas could heal her.  "Rose-"

"I’ve got this, Dean" Rose said calmly and firmly, without turning to look at him.  Dean turned to Sam and Lily who looked as helpless as he felt.  Before Dean could open his mouth to even try to argue further Rose was speaking.

“This is what happens to demons that touch people I care about.”  Then she put her hands together and pulled them apart quickly, making a motion like someone would use to open a bag of chips, a casual movement that looked harmless.  The affects were anything but.  Before they even had time to scream the demons were literally ripped to shreds, the remnants of what had been their bodies flying in all directions.  Dean was amazed to see the black smoke that seemed to be the actual demons themselves ripped to pieces right along with the human forms they had taken.  Dean had never seen anything like that before.  I guess that's what it means to be able to control demons, he thought.  All three that had been standing there a second ago were nothing more than a pile of blood and gore now, not even reassembling a human form any more.

Rose spun around, her eyes looking panicked and her own blood dripping from her nose and ears.  She pointed a shaky finger at Castiel.  "Don't you touch me!  Don't you dare heal me!" she demanded and then she collapsed and Dean caught her just before she hit the floor.

* * *

Dean moved to lay Rose on one of the beds after a minute, and stared at her unconscious form, feeling as if he had somehow happened into some alternate universe.  In what world did any of this happen? 

Cas came up to him and reaching out a hand towards Rose he hesitated, obviously not sure about healing her against her wishes.

"Do it" Dean growled, his eyes flashing dangerously.  "You fucking heal her, Cas."  Dean didn't give a damn about Rose's permission in this case.  She obviously wasn't thinking clearly and was hurt and bleeding.  It was simple in Dean's mind: she needed healing so Cas had to heal her.  If she were conscious he would have said it to her face.

Cas nodded and touched Rose's forehead, healing her and then touching her again for good measure, this touch making sure she stayed unconscious for awhile.

"She won't wake for several hours.  There's been damage done to her from the demons getting into Daisy's vision that I can't entirely fix.  That will take time to heal" Cas said, looking at Dean with what he supposed passed for sympathy in Cas' mind.  "When she wakes she may not be able to control her powers."

His warning delivered Cas turned and surveyed the room and the utter carnage in it.  Cas waved a hand and the blood, gore and body parts from the demons were no more but the blood from the humans’ injuries remained.  He turned and went to Erin and taking Daisy into his arms the three of them disappeared without another word, presumably to the closest hospital. 

"Thank God" Bobby said.  "I wasn't looking forward to explaining how three bodies had exploded to the police."  At a quizzical look from Sam, Bobby said "Well they're gonna have to tell them something at the hospital, may lead them back here.  I'm guessing that's why Cas left the human blood."  Bobby seemed to be the only one of the group who had his wits about him.  Everyone else looked shell shocked.

Sam and Lily were talking to each other quietly and after a few minutes Sam looked at Dean and said "We need to go back to the bunker and get cleaned up.  Then Lily wants to go to the hospital."

Dean nodded and handed Sam the keys.  Sam went ahead of him, opening the hotel room door and the door to the backseat of the Impala.  Dean picked Rose up and carried her out to the car, sliding into the backseat with her while Sam and Lily slid into the front seat.  They left Bobby and Heather standing in the doorway of the hotel room and Dean had the passing though that Heather wouldn't be returning any phone calls from Bobby for help any time soon.

Dean stared down at Rose’s unconscious form on the backseat next to him, her head on his lap.  She looked wore out and drained but still like Rosie.  The anger and coldness was gone from her face now.  Was that just because of what happened?  Was this normal for her when she used this power?  Clearing his throat he looked at Lily in the front seat.

“Was that what she was like last time when she killed the demon at your house?”

Lily shook her head, turning to look at him.  Dean could see him her face she was as freaked out as he felt.  "No, She didn’t seem to know what she was doing last time, didn't seem to be in control and she didn’t seem so angry either.”  Lily paused adding “Of course those demons did kill Heather and attack all three of us.  If she hadn’t killed them I would have.”  Lily snorted “And God, what idiots.  Did they really think telling her this was her fault and then threatening us wouldn’t send her over the edge?”

Dean stroked Rose’s cheek softly.  Lily was right, that had been an idiotic thing to say; Rose was nothing if not protective and loyal.  Still it was weird to see Rose so vicious, so aggressive.  Dean knew that probably sounded hypocritical considering some of the things he'd done to protect people in the past but he just didn't think of Rose in that way.  She was usually so soft and gentle.  His brain was having a hard time wrapping itself around the fact that Rose, _His Rose_ , has just ripped three demons apart.

"Daisy looked bad didn't she?" Lily said, looking at Sam anxiously.

Sam reached an arm out and drew Lily close to him.  "Ya but Cas has got her and the hospital they took her to is amazing, one of the best in the state." Dean raised an eyebrow at his brothers’ statement.  As far as he knew his brother had never stepped foot in the hospital nearest them and suddenly he was an expert on it?  What wouldn't that kid say to make Lily feel better?  "They'll fix her up, Lil and she'll be back on her feet in no time, making you crazy."

Lily didn't answer; just rested her head on Sam's shoulder and Dean suspected she was willing to believe anything Sam said right about now.  Sometimes facts weren't much comfort and you just needed someone to tell you everything would be OK.

Looking down at Rose, Dean ran his hand over her cheek and whispered to her "It'll all be OK, Rosie.  I promise."

* * *

Castiel had explained to Erin quickly at the hotel what Daisy's condition was and what his role needed to be and Erin had taken it in stride.  He was amazed at the difference in this woman and the one he'd seen the last few weeks.  This woman was strong and capable; it was easy to see the similarities in her daughters and her.

Erin stopped Castiel in the parking lot just after they arrived, before he could carry Daisy into the ER.  She slipped her wedding ring off her hand, sliding it onto Daisy's.  "When the hospital staff ask, you're her husband" she said, unlatching a chain from around her neck that Cas hadn't noticed before.  "You'll need unobstructed access to Daisy, correct?" Cas nodded and Erin continued.  "It will make this all a lot easier in the long run in dealing with the hospital and the authorities if it comes to that."  She pulled a man's wedding ring off the chain and slipped it on Cas' ring finger.  "And I'll be damned if my daughters husband won't wear a ring" she said with a grin that reminded Cas of her youngest daughter.

Cas was still for a second, grasping the meaning behind her words.  It was a good idea.  "Won't they look up records-"

Erin waved a hand.  "Leave that to me.  I'll make a call."  She verified a few facts with him that she input into her phone and quickly texted someone.  Then she glanced back at him.  "The rings are a loan; I'll need them back.  We'll need replacements eventually but once a marriage license is filed for all intents and purposes you'll be married in the eyes of the law."  Her eyes bore into his, needing him to understand what this meant.

He nodded.  "I forget how humans like to involve government in marriage.  In heavens eyes marriage is about the souls involved not paperwork and documents."

Erin smiled and Cas realized he'd said something she liked though he wasn't sure what it was.  "In a perfect world....You're ok with that though?  Being legally married to my daughter?"

Cas nodded.  "It's of little import to me what your government papers say but if it will make things easier then by all means."  He glanced at Daisy's face.  "My concern and my place is with her."

Erin nodded.  "Well said."  She clicked away on her phone then nodded.  "OK the balls rolling.  I'll call to get everything settled later."  She reached out and stroked Daisy's face.  "This definitely wasn't the way I thought my baby would be getting married" she said softly.  Then she took a deep breath and squared her shoulders, giving Castiel a determined look.  "Now let's go get our girl taken care of."

* * *

When they got back to the bunker Charlie jumped up from the library table to greet them, a big smile on her face.  She froze when she saw Sam and Lily coming down the stairs, both bloody with Dean following behind with an unconscious and bloody Rose in his arms.  “What happened?” she asked, looking stunned, her smile gone completely.  Lily kept going with Dean and Rose towards Rose’s room, leaving Sam to fill Charlie in.  Lily opened the door for them, and then asked Dean if he needed help.  He shook his head and Lily nodded, seeming to understand and left them alone.

Dean bathed Rose as best he could.  It wasn't a perfect job but he got her clean enough to get in bed anyway, where hopefully she would rest and recover.  He knew Lily would have helped, that it probably would have gone smoother with two sets of hands (However weird that would have been) but he also knew Lily was desperate to get to the hospital and see how Daisy was. And this was something he needed to do, to take care of Rose after what happened tonight.  He wanted to keep her safe so badly and it had all gone so horribly wrong.  Slipping Rose into one of his old t-shirts he slid her under the covers in the bed in her room.  He wanted her in his shirt tonight, needed a visible reminder that she was his.  He'd never been so scared he was going to lose her as he had been tonight.

Dean really needed a shower himself, to get the blood off of him, but he didn't want to leave Rose alone.  He knew Cas had said she'd sleep several hours but what if he was wrong?  What if Rose woke up, scared and alone?  What if she needed something and he didn't hear her?

There was a knock on the door just then and Dean went to open it and found Sam on the other side.  “Hey, how is she?” he asked.

“Sleeping” Dean said, rubbing the back of her neck.  “I managed to get her pretty well cleaned up.”

“Good” Sam said, nodding and looking his brother over.  “Why don’t you grab a quick shower?”  When Dean opened his mouth to protest Sam said “I already did and Lily is in the shower now.  I can sit with Rose while you’re getting cleaned up, that way if she wakes up she won’t be alone.”

Dean looked at him hesitantly, seeming to be fighting an internal battle.  “You're sure you don’t mind?” he asked finally.

Sam gave him a small smile.  “I don’t mind, Dean.  Go get cleaned up.”

Dean nodded, leaned over and kissed Rose on the forehead and whispered something to her.  He smiled gratefully at Sam before going quickly to his room to shower.

Sam texted Lily and asked her tell him when she was ready and explained where he was and why.  Then he sat down in the chair next to the bed, and sighed, watching Rose sleep peacefully.  It was hard to imagine this was the same person who had destroyed three demons without laying a hand on them less than an hour ago.  Sam could see why Heather had gone on about her power now.  That had been an impressive and frankly a fairly intimidating display.  Sam sighed.  This whole night had been overwhelming and now they had to deal with the fallout.  Sam knew Dean would focus completely on Rose and knew he would need someone to make sure he took care of himself too and Lily was in panic mode, both of her sisters hurt, her own personal nightmare come true.  Sam would try to get a quick word with Charlie, ask her to keep an eye on Dean while he was at the hospital and over the next few days.  Sam wasn’t sure how Dean was going to react to all this.  Hopefully Rose would wake up and be back to her old self, though Sam had heard what Cas had said to Dean about the damage done to her and he was worried it might take some time.

“You gotta get better quick, Rosie” Sam said.  “My big brother really needs you.”

Then Sam sat back and waited for Dean to return.

* * *

He didn’t have to wait long.  Dean was gone less than 15 minutes before he reappeared again, clean and wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt, his hair wet.

"She's still asleep" Sam told him as soon as he came in, knowing what his first question would be.

Dean nodded.  "Thanks for sitting with her, Sammy."

"No problem" Sam said.  "I get it.  Tonight was intense.  I wouldn't want to leave Lily either if she was in this situation."  His phone buzzed just then and he glanced at it before saying "Lily's ready to go but wants to come check on Rose."

Dean nodded "Hey take the Impala.  She's out already and you still have the keys.  It'll be quicker than pulling one of the other cars out."

"Thanks" Sam said just as Lily knocked and then stuck her head around the door.  She walked in, all cleaned up, her face a mask of worry and concern.  Her eyes immediately went to Rose and she walked over to stand by her bedside.

"She's sleeping, Lil" Sam said softly.  "It's the best thing for her right now."

Lily nodded and gave Sam a small smile, the best she could muster right now.  She glanced back down at Rose and Sam could tell she was torn.  He stood up and wrapped his arms around her.  "Dean will be here with her, Babe.  You heard Cas, she'll be sleeping for awhile.  Let's go see how Daisy is while Rosie gets some rest and Dean keeps an eye on her."  Glancing at his older brother, Sam hoped he would get some sleep too.  You would never know they had slept so late that day; Dean looked exhausted.

"You promise you'll take care of her?" Lily asked, looking at Dean.

"I swear it" Dean said vehemently.  "I won't leave her side."

Lily nodded slowly.  She reached out a hand and smoothed Rose's hair, then spotting Rose's childhood bear she plucked him off the shelf above the bed and put him next to Rose's sleeping form.  She leaned down and spoke to Rose softly.  "I'm going to check on Days, Rosie.  Gotta make sure our bratty sister is OK.  Get some sleep and I'll be back soon."  She smoothed her hair once again and whispered she loved her before straightening and turning to Sam.  With a little nod Dean's way she walked out, ready to go to the hospital.

Sam looked at Dean and said "Try and get some rest.  You look beat."

Dean gave a harsh laugh.  "Ya, this has been the longest short day of my life.  Hey, text me and let me know how Daisy is, OK?"

"Will do" Sam said and followed Lily out.

Sookie let out a meow once Sam had left and Dean took that as a sign she needed food.  He filled her food bowls and got a loud purr and a head butt for his troubles.  Then he turned the lights off aside from the bathroom light and slid into bed next to Rose.  He lay on his side, facing her and slowly traced her face with his hand.  This has been one of the strangest nights of his life and considering the crazy life he led that was saying something.  He had no idea how he felt about anything right now and he was too tired to try and sort it all out.  Once Rose was awake and they could talk then he'd get a handle on what he was feeling.  Right now he was just bone tired.

Dean kissed Rose on the forehead, willing her to be OK when she woke up.  "Night, Rosie" he said softly, then he pulled her into his arms and let sleep overtake him, hoping it would bring healing for them both.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just one more chapter to go for this first part...


	52. I Gave it Everything I Had and Everything I Got Was Bad

Lily was quiet on the way to the hospital, staring out the window most of the way.  She had moved close to Sam as soon as they got in and he had wrapped an arm around her, hoping to offer what support and comfort he could.

Sam wrinkled his nose at the metallic smell of blood in the car; they had all had blood on them when they left the hotel and the seats had gotten hit with quite a bit of it.  Thankfully he'd thought to spread an old sheet over the seats before they got in this time.  The Impala would definitely need a thorough cleaning.

Lily's phone buzzed and she dug it out of her pocket to see who it was; frowning as she read.

"What's up?" Sam asked.

"It's my mom.  They've got Daisy in a room already."  She looked at Sam anxiously.  "Is that because she's so bad?  Did they rush her into a room because she's hurt so severely?"

"Did your mom say she was in intensive care?"

Lily looked down at her phone.  "No, she just said a room and gave me the number."

"If she was really bad they'd have put her in intensive care" Sam said confidently. "So my guess is the quickness is probably just because it's a good hospital and we're also not in a huge city.  Less waiting time."  Despite what Dean thought Sam wasn't just making up stuff by saying the closest hospital was one of the best in the state.  When they'd settled at the bunker he'd done some research, figuring at some point one of them had a good chance of winding up there.  Sam believed in being prepared.  He liked to know all he could beforehand if possible.

His words seemed to reassure Lily somewhat and she answered her mom then settled back against his side, leaning her head on his shoulder.

Then suddenly without warning she sat up and slapped his shoulder.  "Don't hold me back next time!"

Sam was completely taken aback by the sudden assault.  "Lily, what the hell?"

"At the hotel.  I could have gotten through to Rosie or helped her somehow if you would have let me go."

Sam stopped himself from pointing out that Rose hadn't needed anyone's help. She had taken care of the demons more efficiently than and just as brutally as any of the rest of them could have. "You could also have just as easily been grabbed by one of the demons and used as a bartering chip to get Rose to go with them."

Lily fixed Sam with a challenging stare.  "I'm not weak, Sam."

"Lily, weak is the last thing I would ever call you.  But you throw yourself in harm's way without thinking when it comes to your sisters."

Lily snorted and settled back against him.  "Aw yes, says the man who sacrifices himself how willingly for his brother?"

Sam grimaced, knowing she was right.  "I know.  And if our roles were reversed you would be the one trying to hold me back."

"Ha!  There would be no "trying" involved.  I'd knock your ass out if I had to."  Sam couldn't help but laugh at her answer and he gave her a quick squeeze as they pulled into the hospital parking lot.

They found Daisy's room with relative ease, with no one stopping them along the way.  The door to Daisy's room was closed and Lily knocked softly and opened the door when her mom called for them to come in.

* * *

Three hours later Sam and Lily were headed back to the bunker.  Both Cas and Erin were spending the night and there was nothing for them to do now but go home and get some rest, which Erin had encouraged them both to do.

It had been an odd visit, with very little learned aside from Daisy's basic medical condition - cerebral edema from the stab wound she'd suffered at the hands of one of the demons.  (She had a myriad of other smaller injuries but the head trauma was the big one.)  Seeing Daisy who was usually so full of life, lying so still on a hospital bed with IV’s hooked up to her and machines monitoring her was startling to say the least.  She was in a coma and being treated with steroids that the doctors were hoping would help so surgery wouldn't be required.  Cas had seemed fairly positive that she wouldn't need surgery with his help.

There was a lot more going on than Cas was saying but he had promised to tell them everything tomorrow, saying tonight he needed to focus on Daisy.  He'd looked worried; he'd definitely looked worried which made Sam concerned.  Cas had asked them to bring Bobby, Dean and Rose tomorrow so he could explain everything just one time.

The craziest part of the night had come when Lily had spotted the ring on her little sisters’ hand.  Sam had been talking to Erin, asking if she needed anything for the night so he hadn't seen Lily's face when she first spotted it.

"Mom, why is Daisy wearing your wedding ring?" Her voice had been a banquet of confusion that had caused Sam to turn and glance at Daisy's hand.

"Oh that's what I'll need you two to do tomorrow, if you don't mind.  There is an antique shop downtown, really nice and with a wonderful owner" Erin was saying, digging into her purse (Which Lily had smartly thought to grab as they had left the hotel earlier).  She pulled out her wallet and rummaged through it till she produced a business card.  "A Mrs. Bucket.  If you can stop in tomorrow and get a set of wedding rings that would be ideal.  I trust your taste, Lily.  You know what your sister would like."

Lily had turned and was staring at her mother now, her face going back and forth between confusion and anger. Erin was doing one of the things that made Dean absolutely crazy: Going into details that made no sense because she hasn't answered the original question.  Sam stepped in before Lily could explode.

"We can do that, Erin, no problem" Sam said smoothly and Erin smiled at him gratefully.  "But why is she wearing the ring?"  He glanced at Cas then and his eyes widened.  "And why is Cas wearing one too?"

"Oh sorry, I got ahead of myself" Erin said.  "It's just been such a hectic night."  She took a deep breath and looked at Lily. "Cas needs to be with Daisy to help with her healing.  The easiest way to make that happen was to have them be married.  So I pulled some strings and got some documents made up.  The rings helped sell it."

Lily was gaping at her mother, absolutely stunned.  "You married Daisy off?  While she's in a coma?"

"Lil, I'm sure none of the paperwork is binding..." At Erin's look Sam stopped.  "Right?"

"My contacts are very good" Erin said confidently.  "Legally they were married, oh about twelve days ago."

Now it was Sam's turn to stare.  "Holy shit.  You really did marry her off."

"I can't believe you did this" Lily whispered, dropping into a chair.

"Now Sam, Lily it was the best way.”  Erin was giving them her patented Mom look, as if they were unruly children who refused to come inside for dinner. "Castiel needs to be with her.  A worried husband is a lot easier to explain than a concerned angel."

"What happened to Daisy having a say in this?" Lily asked.  "You gave us lecture after lecture over the years about feminism and owning our bodies.  And this" Lily motioned to the ring on Daisy's hand. (She couldn't even bring herself to look at the ring on Cas' hand.  That was her dads ring and it didn't belong on anyone else.) "This is the exact opposite of all that.  This is like some kind of arranged marriage."

"Oh Lily don't be so melodramatic" Erin said, frowning at her daughter.  "You know I very firmly believe in personal choice.  When Daisy's better we can reverse everything if that's what she wishes" Erin said soothingly.

"Hmmph."  Lily wasn't happy about this and wasn't going to pretend to be.  "So what's her last name now?  I don't even know _your_ last name."  This last comment was directed at Cas who up until now had stayed out of the conversation.  Cas glanced up at her, looking confused by the comment and Sam had the distinct impression he hadn't been there just a second ago.  There was so much more going on here that what met the eye.

"Angels don't have last names" Cas said quietly.

"He took Sullivan" Erin said proudly.  "This way Daisy doesn't have to change and Castiel is a wonderful example of modern man's progressiveness."

Sam bit his lip to keep from pointing out that technically Cas wasn't modern _or_ a man but figured that wouldn't help the situation.

"Well I'm glad you got to make a statement about equality when you sold my sister off like chattel" Lily said, with a roll of her eyes.

Erin just stared at Lily, not understanding why her oldest daughter couldn't see how brilliant her solution had been. 

Sam and Lily left not long after that.

Lily had ranted about her mom for a few minutes on the way to the car; once she got there she pulled her phone out and texted furiously for a few minutes (To Rose, Sam suspected.  If there was anyone she would want to vent to about this it would be her middle sister.  Even if she wasn’t awake now she would have the information there when she woke and Lily wouldn’t have to retell her.  Sam knew the ways of Lily and Rose well.) When she was done and they were driving she was silent, staring out the window again.  Sam figured she had to be exhausted; he certainly was.  He'd texted Dean about Daisy's condition and hadn't gotten a reply back so he figured everyone except Charlie was probably asleep at the bunker.

Sam went ahead and pulled the Impala into the garage, since it really needed to be cleaned before anyone drove it again.  He turned the engine off and turned towards Lily who was lost in her own thoughts.

"Lil" he called.  It took a minute but she eventually snapped to and turned towards him.  "We're home."  Lily just looked at him blankly for a second then nodded and released her seatbelt and then she stopped and just sat there.  Sam reached over and drew her to him.  "We're going to get through this" he said, wrapping his arms around her.  "Your sisters are strong.  They've had you to look up to all these years and they learned from the best what it means to be stubborn and defiant.  I have no doubt they'll pull through this."

"What if _I'm_ not strong enough to get through this?" Lily asked quietly.  "Seeing both of them hurt, that's one of my worst nightmares, Sam.  I felt like falling apart at the hotel tonight."  These weren't things Lily would normally admit.  She hated feeling weak and didn’t usually willingly admit it. But here in the quiet of the bunker garage, late at night with most everyone else asleep it felt safe to let these things out.  In the front seat of the Impala, with Sam who never judged her, it felt like they were in their own secluded sanctuary and Lily felt comfortable letting her walls down.

Sam brushed a strand of hair out of her face and Lily wondered how something that had always annoyed her when other guys did it (She was an adult thank you, perfectly capable of brushing her own hair back.) felt so tender and caring when he did it.  She chalked it up to what she’d started calling Sam magic; she swore he could turn anything to gold.

“But you didn’t fall apart." Sam smiled gently at her.  “But if you need to?  I'm here.  You can fall apart on me anytime and I promise I’ll help you put yourself back together again.  You're not going through this alone, Lily.  Whatever you need, I'm here."  He ran his hand down her back soothingly.

Lily was staring at him in wonder.  "How do you do that?" Sam raised a questioning eyebrow and Lily expounded.  "You say the right thing, just what I need to hear and you wind up making me feel stronger and braver than I know I am."

Sam gave her his sweetest smile, the one that always made her heart just ache with happiness.  "Maybe because I see you a lot clearer than you see yourself.  And what I see is pretty amazing."

Lily blushed and cast her eyes downwards.  "And to think this wasn't supposed to be serious" she said softly.

Sam chuckled and kissed the top of her head. "Ya, so much for that plan."

Lily looked back up at him and Sam swore he had never seen her eyes look so full of emotion.  She reached out a hand and traced his face softly.  "I love you, Sam" she said softly and Sam felt his heart catch in his throat.  He'd been sure of his feelings for Lily for awhile now but hadn't gone so far as to put it in words for fear of her reaction; he hadn't wanted to scare her off.  Now he was glad he'd waited.  Hearing her say those words was like every Christmas present he'd ever wished for as a child rolled into one.

Sam smiled at Lily and it was bright enough to light up a city block.  "I love you, Lily" he said reaching out and drawing her lips to his.  Their lips met softly and gently, as if they didn't want to crush this feeling.  Tenderly their lips caressed the others, conveying the message their words had already said.

After a few minutes of sweet and gentle kisses Sam pulled Lily to rest against him.  This was good, Sam thought, that they'd said this tonight.  He had a feeling that whatever happened with Daisy wasn't going to be a quick fix and he was crossing his fingers that Rose was OK when she woke up but he knew there were no guarantees.  Something told him the next little while could turn out to be very bumpy and he and Lily were going to need to lean on each other more than ever.

* * *

Lily told Sam she wanted them to take her car in the morning and she wanted to leave as soon as everyone was awake.  Sam knew there was no way of knowing when everyone, especially Rose, would be awake but he offered to pull Daisy's car out of the garage before they went to bed so it would be ready to go in the morning.  Her grateful smile told him this was the right thing to offer.  It was an action and action made Lily feel like she had some control.  She went in and updated Charlie while he pulled her car out.

By the time he came in Lily had Charlie up to speed.  Charlie told them Dean and Rose had been quiet so she was pretty sure they were both asleep and she walked with them down the hall, ready to turn in herself.

As Sam climbed into bed next to Lily he hoped with every fiber of his being that tomorrow would be a better day than today, if for no other reason than that Lily needed it to be.

* * *

Rose woke up several hours later, her head buzzing noisily.  She blinked, realizing she was looking straight into Dean’s face, who was sound asleep.  She shook her head, confused with how she'd gotten into bed.  She remembered everything that had happened that night right up until just after she had killed the demons.  She frowned, realizing she didn’t feel any remorse at that.  It wasn’t like this was something she had a lot of experience with.  Counting Mark this was only the second time she had ever killed a demon or anything bigger than a spider in her life.  She was pretty sure she should feel something about it.  Sifting through her mind, through everything that seemed to be swirling around up there she found she felt angry and confused.  And scared, so, so scared, though not for herself.  _More people will get hurt and you’ll have only yourself to blame._ The words the demon had thrown at her repeated in her head and in Rose’s heart she unfortunately knew they were true.

Staring at Dean’s face Rose felt tears fill her eyes.  She loved this man so much.  She had never said those exact words to him but she loved him with every ounce of her being.  She hadn’t rushed into saying the words, content with their own way of expressing their emotions, assuming they had time.  Now she was faced with the sad fact that they had no time left at all.

Rose had always been loved, had grown up never doubting she was cared about and she knew the many sides of love.  There was the fun, carefree love that made you feel as if you were walking on a cloud, that made everything look beautiful and made you believe that anything was possible.  There was the sensual, physical side of love that when it was done right made you feel as if your emotions and your body were fused together as one, that every touch was stroking not just your skin, but also your heart, the very essence of yourself.  She’d experienced both of these shades of love with Dean like she never had with anyone else and her heart felt stronger and better for it.  Dean may have never said the exact words either, but he had called her his, had called her heart his and Rose knew how much that meant.  Dean was possessive only with what and who he loved and Dean had always been possessive of her. She had gotten it right when she said that he loved the people he loved fiercely.  For a man that guarded his heart as strongly as Dean did, when he loved a person he loved them well and whether he had said the words or not Rose felt loved by Dean.  Her heart could never belong to anyone else.

Rose sighed, feeling the tears slipping out of her eyes and streaking down her face as she stared at Dean, She knew she had to be strong.  Not all the parts of love were easy.  Now she was facing another, more difficult side of love: Sacrifice.

Three different demons had said that she was wanted, that there was a high price on her head.  They weren’t going to stop looking for her and anyone she was with was in harm’s way.  Because of her tonight both her sisters had been hurt plus a witch who she’d barely had contact with.  She reached out to stroke Dean’s face, wanting one last touch, but stopped herself.  Knowing him he would be sleeping lightly, ready to wake at the slightest touch knowing what she’d been through that evening he would be on high alert.  Dean was nothing if not protective; it’s how he most often showed people he cared about them.  So Rose contented herself with watching him, letting herself soak in this moment.  She felt as if her heart was breaking as she came to grips with what she knew she had to do.  If he was hurt because of her she couldn’t take it.  She’d seen the injuries he’d had during the years, had heard stories of near escapes from death, knew he would actually be dead if it wasn’t for his father making a deal to save his life.  She wasn’t going to put him in any more danger.  _You protect those you love_ had been drilled into Rose’s head since birth and it was something she strongly believed.  Too many people had been hurt because of her already; there was no way she was going to take a chance of it happening again.  This wasn’t about what she wanted.  If it was up to her she would stay with Dean forever, loving him and enjoying every minute they had together.  But what she wanted would invite danger and death to those she loved most and she just couldn’t take that. 

Rose eased slowly out of bed; she spotted her phone on the bedside table and realized looking around that most of her stuff was in Dean’s room now, still in her bags.  Glancing down she caught sight of what she was wearing and she had to fight back more tears.  He’d put her in his shirt, another way of him saying she was his.  She closed her eyes briefly, struggling.  She didn’t want to do this.  But then the image of Daisy bleeding and unconscious flashed in her mind and she felt her resolve strengthen.  She didn’t want to but there was no question in her mind she had to.

Sookie was sleeping on the chair by the side of the bed and Rose walked over and picked her up, cuddling her against her softly.  “You have to stay here, Sookie.  It’s not safe with me.  Dean will take care of you.  You take care of him too, OK?”  And with a kiss to her soft furry head she put Sookie on the bed and she curled up in the spot Rose had vacated.

Rose grabbed the few loose items she had laying around the room and with one more last longing glance at Dean’s face she slipped out quietly, heading to Dean’s room.  The bunker was still and quiet, all its other occupants sleeping in order to recover from last night’s turmoil.  Slipping into Dean’s room Rose quickly dressed, keeping Dean’s shirt on.  She wasn’t letting that go.  Rose bit back a sob, remembering that less than twenty four hours ago they had both been in this room together, kissing and laughing.  How had everything changed so quickly?  She gathered up all her stuff, shoving them into the duffel she had taken with her for their weekend away ( _Don’t think about that,_ her mind commanded her.  _Don’t go down that road or you will fall apart._ )  She knew she needed to leave a note of some sort and so she dug a notebook out of her bag and tearing out a piece of paper she tried to think of what to write.  In the end she came up with:

_Dean,_

_I’m so sorry about this.  In all my dreams of how things would turn out for us this certainly wasn’t it.  I know you’ll be angry with me for this but please don’t hate me._

_I care about you too much to put you in harm’s way and if you’re near me then you’ll be in danger.  So I’m doing the only thing I can do: I’m leaving the people I care about the most in this world.  I hate that it’s come to this but I’m going to be hunted by demons and I won’t bring that down on all of you.  I can’t change what I am but I can remove myself from you all so I won’t have to watch anyone else I care about get hurt because of me._

_Please take care of Sookie.  She’s safer with you than with me.  Everyone is right now.  I’m just too dangerous to be around._

_Please know I don’t want to leave.  Leaving you is the last thing I would ever want to do.  Despite the craziness of the last few weeks you’ve brought me so much happiness, more than I could ever imagine.  Thank you for that and everything you've given me.  But I need to be far away from everyone I care about and I’m begging you to respect that.  Please don’t look for me or try to find me._

_I’m sorry.  I know I said it before but I can’t help but say it again.  The last thing I want to do is leave but for everyone’s safety it’s the only choice._

_No matter what, I’ll always be yours._

_Love,_

_Your Rose_

It was rambling and Rose wasn’t sure it said exactly what she wanted it to but it would have to do.  She was getting more upset the longer she took (She’d already had to stop and take deep breaths to stop things from floating three different times now since waking up.) and if she took too long someone was bound to wake up and try and stop her.  She didn’t want that.  She was already struggling with this decision.  If someone tried to stop her there was a very good chance they could talk her into staying. And if it was Dean, well if it was Dean there was no way she could say no to him.  She’d give in and stay. She needed to get gone now.

Rose left the note on his bedside table next to the picture of her and then gathered her bag and walked out closing the door behind her.  She walked through the bunker, seeing so many places that things had happened and she felt herself start to shake.  She picked up her pace, knowing she needed to leave _now_.  She planned on walking into town and seeing if she could hitch a ride with someone there.  When she came out of the bunker doors to see Lily’s car sitting there she knew her plans had just changed.  She dug through her purse, pulling out her set of keys and in a few minutes time her bag was stowed and she was behind the wheel. She took a deep breath and with one last longing look at the bunker she started the engine and drove away before anyone even knew she was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's a wrap for Part I! It's been a ride, so much longer and more involved than I anticipated. This was just supposed to be a quick little fic (Ya know, kinda like Sam and Lily weren't supposed to be serious). Ha! I hope y'all enjoyed it as much as I did. Comments are appreciated.  
> I'll start Part II sometime in the next week or so.... Hope y'all will join me for the next part.


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